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http://www.archive.org/details/heredityhealthpeOOshoe 


Heredity, 


Health  and  Personal  Beauty. 


JOHN   V.   SHOEMAKER,   A.M.,   M.D., 

PROFESSOR  OF  MATERIA  HED1CA,  PHARMACOLOGY,  THERAPEUTICS,  AND  CLINICAL  MEDICINE,  AND  CLINICAL 
PROFESSOR   OF   DISEASES  OF  THE   SKIN    IN   THE    MEDICO-CHI  RURGICAL   COLLEGE   OF  PHILADELPHIA  ; 
PHYSICIAN   TO  THE    MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL    HOSPITAL;     MEMBER   OF  THE    AMERICAN    MEDI- 
CAL   ASSOCIATION,     OF     THE      PENNSYLVANIA     AND    MINNESOTA     STATE     MEDICAL 
SOCIETIES,  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  MEDICINE,  THE  BRITISH  MEDICAL 
ASSOCIATION  ;    FELLOW  OF  THE  MEDICAL  SOCIETY  OF  LONDON,  ETC. 


"The  law  of  the  wisi-  is  the  fountain  of  life."— Proverbs. 


Philadelphia  and  London: 

F.  A.  DAVIS,  PUBLISHER, 

1890. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1890,  by 

P.    A.   DAVIS. 

In  the  office  of  the  librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D.  C  U.  S.  A. 


Philadelphia : 
The  Medical  Bulletin  Printing  II 

li'l  Fillwri  Street. 


PREFACE. 


CRITICS  poke  fun  at  authors  by  saying  that  the  Preface  is 
the  author's  apology  for  his  unsolicited  appearance  before 
the  public.  But,  why  is  it  thereby  implied  that  authors  are 
more  than  likely  to  be  mistaken  in  their  view  that  the}7  "will 
supply  a  public  want,  when  we  consider  that  wants  follow 
created,  as  well  as  existing,  needs? 

We  begin  the  customary  apology  by  remarking  that  there 
is  among  educated  persons  a  generally  confessed  need  of  popular 
instruction  as  to  matters  of  health,  and  of  all  things  indirectly 
appertaining  thereto ;  and  this,  in  effect,  is  the  concession  of  the 
existence  of  a  considerable  public  need.  There  can  be  no  dis- 
sent from  the  conclusion  that  the  want  arising  from  this  need 
can  be  increased  by  perceptions  aroused  by  such  treatment  of 
the  subject  of  well-being  as  we  have  here  endeavored  to  employ  ; 
that,  in  a  word,  supply  will  increase  the  public  demand  for  in- 
struction in  this  branch  of  knowledge.  If,  therefore,  this  work 
prove  satisfactorily  to  have  accomplished  the  purpose  in  view,  it 
will  be  gratifying,  not  otherwise,  to  find  it  secure  of  a  lease  of  life. 

There  are  three  points  touched  upon,  the  discussion  of 
which,  it  is  hoped,  may  prove  not  uninteresting  even  to 
members  of  the  medical  profession.  These  are  comprehended 
by  the  Introduction  and  the  chapters  on  the  complexion  and 
the  hair.  Consideration  of  the  value  of  August  Weismann's 
conclusions  touches  at  present  the  extremes  of  discussion  by 
scientific  and  agricultural  societies,  and  those  conclusions, 
relating  to  questions  as  to  the  transmission  of  both  healthy 
and  morbid  conditions,  deeply  concern  the  physician. 

1519  Walnut  Street, 

Philadelphia,  October,  1890. 

(iii) 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Preface, jii 

Table  of  Contents, v 

Introduction,        .  1 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  General  Laws  of  Health, 13 

Health  and  physical  beauty  dependent  on  observance  of  the  laws  of  life. 
The  ultimate  cause  of  the  integrity  of  all  organisms  the  health  of  cells. 
The  spendthrift  tendency  of  mankind  as  to  health.  Exercise  as  re- 
lated to  the  constitution  of  the  individual  and  surrounding  conditions. 
Imprudence  in  physical  exercises.  Imprudence  in  mental  exertion. 
The  yearning  of  the  city-bred  for  the  country,  and  the  indifference  of 
the  country-bred  to  the  country.  The  difficulty  of  combining  a  good 
table  with  country  life.  The  superiority  of  city  people  in  hygienic 
knowledge  over  country  people.  The  moderate  deployment  of  all  the 
faculties,  with  intervals  of  rest,  the  secret  of  enjoyable  life. 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Regulative  Law  of  Life  and  Growth,  .        .        .29 

The  law  of  evolution.  Popular  errors  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  law. 
Erroneous  impression  given  even  in  the  "Encyclopaedia  Britannica." 
General  comparison  between  Lamarck's  theory  and  Darwin's  theory. 
Darwin's  own  statement  of  his  views.  Brief  history  of  the  discussion 
of  evolution.  Darwin's  theory  turns  mostly  upon  the  idea  of  a 
struggle  for  existence,  in  which  there  is  a  survival  of  the  fittest  to 
live  under  existing  conditions.  All  races,  nations,  societies,  indi- 
viduals, are  but  evolutionary  products.  The  moral  as  well  as  the 
physical  world  is  bound  by  the  law. 

CHAPTER  III. 

Nature's  Evidence  of  the  Law  of  Life  and  Growth,  .       43 

Darwin's  experiments  with  pigeons.  The  relations  between  varieties  and 
species.  The  adaptation  of  the  eye  in  different  animals  to  the  require- 
ments of  their  lhres.  Change  shown  by  upland  geese  with  webbed 
feet.  The  introduction  of  the  English  sparrow  into  Philadelphia,  and 
one  of  its  effects.  Color  associated  with  the  constitution.  Color 
associated  with  the  character  of  animals.  The  effects  of  sexual  selec- 
tion upon  the  constitution  of  animals.  The  courting  of  birds,  and 
how  mates  are  won  among  the  gallinaceous  kinds.  The  rare  case  of 
the  female  courting  the  male.  The  weapons  of  birds,  and  their  ac- 
quirement in  different  degress  by  the  two  sexes.  Nature  relinquishes 
what  is  no  longer  of  service  to  an  animal,  and  hence  we  find  rudimen- 
tary structures  remaining  that  have  no  function.  The  imperfection 
of  the  geological  record  not  sufficient  to  invalidate  the  theory  of 
evolution.    The  great  miracle  of  universal,  primeval  law. 

(▼) 


vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV.  PAoa 

Man's   SPIBITI   u.    PLACE   in    NATURE 63 

hief  obstacle  to  universal  acceptance  of  the  truth  of  the  theory  of  evo- 

.    lution.  The  law  ol  evolution  does  not  conflict  with  the  teachings  of  the 

Scriptures  rightly  read.    The  impossibility  of  acoepting  some  things 

in  the  Old  Testament  Literally.    The  language  ol  the  Scriptures  was 

i  to  men  from  the  stand-poinl  of  the  physical  knowledge  thai 

they  possessed.    The  presumption  of  the  agnostic.    The  perfectcom- 

patibilitj  of  belief  in  the  Scriptures  with  the  doctrine  of  evolution. 

jwer  to  the  supposititious  question  of  a  materialist.    Spencer's 

and  Darwin's  idea  of  the  .•volution  of  the  conscience  aoi  correct. 

D  u-win's  singular  incompetency  in  such  discussions  Bbown  bj  ;i  <ju<>ta- 

tion  from  his  own  writings.     Dickens  cited  in  support  of  the  author's 

view.    Conscience  to  be  regarded  as  a  creation  appearing  at  the  epoch 

man's  physical  existence  when  the  attribute  could  subserve  wise 

pur] 

CHAPTER  V. 
Man's  Physical  Place  in  Nature, 11 

The  difference  between  the  educated  man  and  the  savage.  Strange 
similarities  and  dissimilarities  to  be  observed  in  all  manifestations  of 
l  i,-.  The  evident  derivation  of  man  from  some  type  of  being  far 
below  the  type  that  represents  his  present  status  in  creation.  Em- 
bryonic traits.  The  likenessof  the  anthropoid  apes  to  man.  Different 
types  of  brain  conformation.  Huxley's  discussion  of  the  similarities 
between  the  brains  of  some  of  the  anthropoid  apes  and  that  of  man. 
The  human  brain  enormously  larger  than  that  of  any  ape.  Dr. 
Maudsley's  remarks  on  some  singular  likenesses  between  the  actions 
of  certain  human  beings  with  arrested  brain  development  and  those 
of  the  lower  animals.  Darwin*.-  conclusion  from  his  examination  of 
the  expression  of  the  emotions  by  man  and  the  lower  animals  Tt  is 
positively  denied  that  man  is  descended  from  any  existing  type  of  ape 
or  monkey.  The  day  will  arrive  when  the  subject  will  be  examined 
dispassionately,  and  man  be  glad  to  find  himself  the  descendant  of  a 
lower  form,  as  giving  the  best  promise  for  a  glorious  future  in  earthly 
life. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Phenomena  of  Evolution  i\  the  Present  "Era,      .        .      89 

Man's  insane  pride  clouds  Ins  reason.  TTe  makes  his  God  like  unto  him- 
self. Scientific  knowledge  the  best  teacher  of  humility.  The  dis- 
proved theory  of  past  ages,  that  everything  was  made  for  man. 
Perception  of  evolution  is  obscured  by  lack  of  perspective.  Some 
of  the  niONtil  evolution  of  modern  times.  The  times  of  the  French 
monarchy  contrasted  with  our  own.  The  physical,  moral,  and  mental 
worlds  are  all  alike  controlled  by  the  law  of  evolution. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Sentiment  of  the  Beautiful,    .....      95 

A  beauty  ?    Sense  of  beauty  differs  only  on  account 

of   difference  in  mental  and   moral  endowments.     The  picturesque  a 

ne-.'.   senBe  "f  beauty  as  compared  with  many  other  Bpecies.    What 

nstitutes  tin-  picturesque  a-  contradistinguished  from  the  ideally 

beautiful.     Final  conclusions. 


CONTENTS.  vii 

CHAPTER  VIII.  ,,„.,, 

The  Source  of  the  Beauty  of  the  Fair  Sex,         .        .     103 

Two  causes  chiefly  concerned  in  producing  the  relative  beauty  of  the  fair 
sex— the  choice  by  men,  to  the  exclusion  of  others,  of  the  best-favored 
women,  and  the  sedulous  manner  in  which  the  most,  enlightened 
nations  guard  their  women  against  physically  degrading  toil.  The 
beauty-producing  prevalence  of  romantic  love.  The  cause  of  the 
relative  beauty  of  women  to  that  of  men  is  sexual  selection. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The    Effect    of    Environment    and    Training    on    the 

Physique, Ill 

Comparison  of  the  forms  of  army  and  navy  recruits,  to  show  that  different 
kinds  of  life  have  the  effect  of  changing  parts  of  the  body.  The  Union 
infantry  marching  as  compared  with  the  marching  of  the  Confederate 
infantry.  The  differences  between  the  Sioux  and  the  Apaches.  The 
change  that  takes  place  in  men  upon  being  subjected  to  military  drill. 
The  effect  of  West  Point  drill  upon  the  cadets.  The  desirability  of 
calisthenics  for  girls,  if  they  have  no  opportunity  of  taking  the  natural 
exercises.  The  use  of  the  dancing-master.  Change  in  physique  in 
California  within  a  very  short  period  after  its  occupation.  Change  in 
the  physique  of  the  Englishman  within  quite  modem  times.  Change 
in  the  Frenchman.  Changes  in  the  immigrant  shortly  after  landing  at 
New  York.  The  Chinaman's  walk  and  shoes.  The  little  feet  of 
China.    Conclusions. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Grace  the  Crown  of  Beauty,  .        .        .  .        .     121 

Form  and  movement  together  constitute  the  highest  beauty.  The  poten- 
tial movement  of  Greek  statues  as  compared  with  the  stolidity  of  those 
of  Egypt.  Gracefulness  among  the  lower  animals.  Only  in  the  human 
form  do  grace  and  symmetry  combined  reach  the  highest  point  of 
beauty.  The  gracefulness  of  Rachel,  the  French  actress,  and  of  Miss 
Terry,  the  English  actress.  The  unity  of  effect  in  conjoined  beauty 
and  grace.  Grace  depends  primarily  upon  the  co-ordination  of  the 
nervous  system  with  the  well-shaped  form.  One  of  the  best  eriterions 
of  gracefulness  found  in  its  expression  of  ease.  Curvilinear  movement 
the  condition  of  gracefulness.  The  difference  between  the  sexes  as  to 
their  respective  aptitude  for  certain  movements  of  the  body.  A  foot- 
ball match  by  some  young  girls. 

CHAPTER  XL 
The  Art  of  Walking, 127 

Mr.  Finck's  book  on  romantic  love  and  personal  beauty.  His  errors  as  to 
the  art  of  walking.  His  quotation  of  Dr.  Thomas  S.  Ellis,  in  support 
of  his  views.  Dancing-masters  as  teachers  of  the  mode  of  holding  the 
body.  The  question  as  to  whether  the  feet  in  walking  should  be  par- 
allel or  the  toes  should  be  turned  out.  Marching  discussed  as  a  mode 
of  walking.  Dr.  Ellis's  opinion  as  to  the  value  of  holding  the  feet  par- 
allel, as  affording  tbe  most  secure  base  for  the  body  refuted  by  con- 
sideration of  the  facts.    The  reason  why  the  American  Indian  and 


Vlii  CONTENTS. 

PAOB 
other  Bavagea  walk  with  parallel  Eeet.  The  proper  degree  to  which 
the  feet  should  be  turned  oul  Is  dependenl  upon  a  number  of  con- 
ditions specified.  The  rolling  gait  of  the  sailor.  Directions  for  walk- 
ing. The  grace  of  Little  :jii  Is  a~  compared  with  their  movements  \\  lien 
no  longer  little  girls.  The  reason  for  the  change  for  the  worse.  Blow 
movements  of  the  body  the  severest  tests  as  to  gracefulness  of  person. 
Monl  ligne'a  confirmation  of  that  view.  Th<'  carrying  of  water-jars 
cm  the  head  conducive  to  gracefulness  of  bearing.  Dr.  Thomas  S. 
Kiiis's  monograph  on  the  subject  of  the  foot  and  walking.  His  idea 
of  the  dome-like  character  of  the  two  feet  constraining  one  to  adopl 
the  mode  of  walking  with  parallel  Eeet.  Sis  idea  of  the  best  position 
of  the  great  toe  for  the  backward  thrust  from  the  ground  in  propelling 
the  body.  Test  bythefacts  observable  in  the  movements  of  profes- 
sional dancers.    The  military  mode  of  marching. 

CHAPTBK   XII. 

The  Evolution  or  the  American  Girl,   ....     143 

Tin-  motive  in  women's  dressing  for  adornment.  Tin'  dressing  of  Ameri- 
can women  as  compared  with  that  of  foreign  women.  Cases  of  want 
of  discretion  in  women,  in  not  modifying  fashions  to  suit  their  forms. 
I    a    ;    ..;  the  American  woman  as  compared  with  that  of  the  French 

woman.     Be  ranger's  comic  old  grandmother.     Uarlyle  tress.    A 

retrospect  of  fiftj  years  in  the  matters  of  fashion.  The  change  in  the 
American  from  simplicity  to  luxury.  The  simultaneous  improvement 
in  hygienic  practices.  What  tie'  Countess  of  Jersey  says  on  the  same 
topic  in  the  Nineteenth  Century.  The  concomitant  social  change 
among  Americans.  The  main  proportions  of  the  female  form.  Kle- 
ganee  as  shown  by  the  characteristic  Length  of  limb.  The  beauty  of 
the  female  bosom.  The  bosom  as  found  among  some  low,  savage 
tribes.  Warning  against  the  pretensions  of  quacks  to  change  the 
bosom.  Dressing  with  relation  to  the  form.  The  vulgarity  of  tight 
shoes  and  tight  gloves.  General  disuse  of  tight-lacing.  The  per- 
nicious effect  of  tight-lacing.  Beauty  of  person  and  grace  incompati- 
ble with  tight-lacing.    The  weaving  of  tight  shoes  prejudicial  to  grace 

ami  destructive  id'  the  feet.  The  blonde  and  brunette  types  of  female 
beauty.  The  condition  of  Spain  during  historical  times  fully  accounts 
for  the  beauty  and  the  particular  gracefulness  there  existing.  History 
of  the  country  from  the  earliest  times  of  which  we  know  anything 
down  to  the  present.  The  American  has  not  yet  a  distinct  racial  type. 
The  conditions  which  will  probably  make  of  the  American  the  hand- 
somesl  type  of  the  world. 

CHAPTEB  XI IT. 

The  Sktn  as  ax  Organ  ok  the  Body,      ....     169 

Description  of  the  formation  of  the  skin.  The  sense  of  touch.  The  case 
of  I. aura  Bridgmanj  who  knew  all  that  she  had  acquired  through  the 
sense  of  touch.  The  effect  of  the  skin  in  imbibing  oxygen  and  liber- 
ating carbonic-acid  pi>  and  many  other  products.  The  pernicious 
effects  of  not  attending  daily  to  the  evacuation  of  the  bowels.  Dr. 
Franklin's  air  bath.     <  (dors  given  out  by  certain  glands  as  t  he  effect  of 

abnormal  secretion  and  disease,  and  Intensified  by  want  of  cleanliness, 

or  among  the  lower  animals.  Man  should,  by  his  personal  habits, 
prove  that  in-  does  not  belong  to  them.  The  waste  and  repair  of  the 
body.     What  is  necessary  to  the  health  of  the  skin. 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Skin  as  a  Beautiful  Tissue, 183 

Briilat  Savarin  on  the  subject  of  plumpness.  The  relation  between  com' 
plexion  and  obesity.  The  typical  English  milkmaid's  complexion. 
What  constitutes  the  ideal  complexion.  The  reputed  complexion  of 
Madame  Recamier.  A  word  as  to  Madame  Re*camier  and  Madamede 
Stael,  and  their  relations  to  each  other.  Discussion  of  the  question  of 
why  veins  look  blue  through  the  skin.  The  causes  upon  which  the 
phenomena  of  complexion  depend.  A  fine  skin  under  the  microscope. 
The  scarf-skin's  horny  layer  the  chief  source  of  the  brilliancy  of  the 
Skin.  Alphonse  Daudet's  description  of  the  artificial  blondes  of  the 
Second  Empire. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Bath  as  Promotive  of  Health  and  Beauty,  .         .     197 

The  motive  of  average  mankind  in  bathing.  Tendency  to  bathing  having 
certain  relations  to  climate.  The  English  boastfulness  as  to  bathing, 
and  their  charge  that  the  French  neglect  it.  The  singular  dearth  in 
the  country  of  bathing  appliances.  Persons  pass  through  life  without 
ever  having  had  a  full  bath.  Immigrants  on  shipboard.  Exceptional 
cases  as  to  cleanliness  even  among  people  of  condition.  The  public 
bathing  establishments.  Girls  in  bathing  on  the  sly  in  sequestered 
places,  when  shielded  by  the  friendly  mantle  of  night.  Adventure  in 
which  the  intruder  was  more  astonished  and  dismayed  than  were  the 
surprised  party.  He  leaves  the  scene  promptly — no  cards.  Another 
adventure,  in  which  the  sexes  are  reversed,  coupled  with  less  loss  of 
equanimity.  The  instinct  of  bathing  the  same  in  the  two  sexes,  but 
the  practice  more  prevalent  among  women  from  their  desire  to  please. 
The  exquisite  cleanliness  of  the  demi-mondaine,  part  of  her  stock  in 
trade.  Fatal  disregard  after  marriage  of  practices  that  have  before 
been  the  source  of  mutual  gratification.  The  constant  bathing  of  the 
Japanese.  The  positive  necessity  of  the  bath  for  perfect  health- 
fulness. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Bathing  as  Practiced  in  Ancient  and  Modern  Times,  .     217 

The  different  kinds  of  bathing  as  determined  by  the  difference  of  the  ob- 
jects sought.  Ordinary  city  appliances  for  bathing  in  the  United 
States.  The  proper  kind  of  tubs.  The  question  of  soaps.  The  com- 
position of  soap.  Shampooing  and  cracking  joints.  Our  single  ex- 
perience of  the  Swedish-movement  cure.  The  deliciousness  of  a  real 
Turkish  or  Russian  bath.  Suggested  addition  of  a  vapor  bath  for 
household  bathing.  Description  of  American  so-called  Turkish  and 
Russian  baths.  The  effect  of  water  administered  in  different  ways. 
The  French  lady'  s  bath  of  milk  and  the  people's  breakfast.  Medi- 
cated baths,  sand  baths,  mud  baths,  electric  baths,  briefly  men- 
tioned. Bathing  among  the  ancients.  Bathing  in  the  early  times  of 
Rome.  Description  of  the  Roman  baths.  Bathing  among  the  Mo- 
hammedans and  among  the  Spaniards.  The  great  gifts  of  baths  by  the 
rulers  to  the  people  of  Rome. 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB  XVII.  PAOH 

The  Cleansing  <>k  the  Face, 233 

The  liealthfulnesa  <>i'  the  skin  of  the  face,  and  the  mode  of  promoting  it. 
The  tonicity  of  cool  water  The  use  of  delicate  soap  on  the  lace.  Tho 
Kind  of  water  ill  which  lo  wash  the  face.  The  proper  u:iy  In  which 
to  cleanse  the  face.  Black  specks  in  the  face.  Hirsuties,  or  hair 
abnormally  situated.    Remedy  for  this  blemish. 

CHAPTEB  XVIII. 
The  Cosmetic  Care  and  Treatment  op  tup:  Face,.        .    241 

Shielding  the  face  from  the  fierce  blasts  of  cold  wind.  Heat,  air,  and 
light  required  in  abundance  by  the  skin  to  Insure  its  healthfulness. 
Blemishes,  such  as  moles,  etc.,  on  the  face,  and  how  to  remove  them. 
Recipe  for  freckles.  Recipe  for  chapped  lips.  Recipe  for  cracked 
lips  and  chapped  hands.  Pace-pow  ders  and  rouge.  The  best  mode  of 
applying  the  pastilles  de  Florence 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Hands 245 

The  expression  of  which  the  hand  is  capable.  The  expression  of  the  hand 
as  indicative' of  a  highly-organized  nervous  constitution.  The  brain 
largely  dependent  upon  its  servant,  the  hand.  The  difference  in  the 
hand  among  different  races  and  individuals.  The  hand  performs  the 
humblest  offices,  and  also  ministers  to  the  needs  of  the  highest 
expression  of  the  mind. 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Cosmetic  Care  and  Treatment  of  the  Hands,        .     249 

The  hand  is  through  earn  to  be  made  presentable.  Beauty  is  conditioned 
in  it  upon  its  appearance  of  serviceableness,  and  cleanliness  is  insepa- 
rable Erom  its  elegance.  The  tapering  fingers  of  tin- handsome  hand. 
Malformation  Of  the  nails.  Treatment  of  the  nails.  Assiduous  atten- 
tion the  price  of  exquisitely  refined  hands.  Excrescences  should  be  re- 
moved. Refinements  connected  with  the  beautification  of  the  hand. 
The  nails  of  a  Chinaman  of  high  rank.  Emollient  washes  for  the 
hands.  The  excellence  of  the  now  disused  pate  d'amande  for  soften- 
ing the  skin  of  the  hand.  Recipe  for  making  almond-meal  forwashing 
the  hands.  Another  recipe  for  the  same  purpose,  from  the  Medical 
Magazine  of  Phnrmac)/.  Recipe  for  coaeoline.  A  recipe  forehapped 
hands.  Glove-wearing  at  night  as  a  cosmetic  practice.  The  best  modes 
of  carrying  out  the  practice,  including  recipes  for  preparations  that 
can  he  combined  with  it.  Treatment  of  white  spots  on  the  nail-surface, 
l  tangerous  liquids  to  dabble  in,  if  one  wants  to  insure  the  integrity  of 
the  nails. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
The  Feet 259 

The  civilized  foot,  and  the  imposition  that  it  hasto  bear.  Thesmallness  of 
the  feet  of  American  women  renders  any  attempt  to  make  them  look 
still  smaller  very  absurd.    The  appreciation  of  the  impecunious  count 


CONTENTS.  X 1 

i'A  a  e 
for  tlio  American  rich  girl.    The  general  attractiveness  of  American 
as  compared  with  foreign  women.    The  lowest  type  of  loot,,  and  what 
'  constitutes  its  lowness.     Nothing  except  face  and  hands  can  be  so 
aristocratic  as  a  well-shaped,  well-dressed  foot. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  Cosmetic  Care  and  Treatment  op  the  Feet,  .         .     265 

How  the  foot  has,  in  the  course  of  time,  been  affected  as  to  shape  by  the 
practices  of  dressing  it  among  civilized  peoples.  Errors  as  to  excel- 
lence in  feet  growing  out  of  lack  of  knowledge  as  to  symmetrical  re- 
quirement. The  culpability  of  the  owner  of  corns  and  bunions.  How 
to  choose  shoes,  and  to  insure  that  they  Shall  hot  hurt.  The  quack's 
unscientific  statement  as  to  the  roots  of  corns.  How  to  remove  corns. 
The  care  of  the  foot  by  the  Skillful  chiropodist.  The  soft  corn.  Mode 
of  reducing  the  bunion.  Recipes  for  the  treatment  of  corns  and  bunions. 
How  to  treat  ingrowing  nail.  Excessive  perspiration  and  fetid  per- 
spiration connected  with  the  feet.  Modes  of  treatment  for  their 
palliation  or  suppression. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Constitution,  Growth,  and  Diseases  op  the  Nails,     277 

The  nail  only  a  modified  form  of  the  scarf-skin.  Description  of  the  consti- 
tution of  the  nail.  The  nail's  mode  of  growth.  Mechanical  injury  to 
the  great-toe  nail  very  common.  Treatment  for  affections  of  the  nails. 
Diseases  of  the  nails. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  Constitution  and  Growth  op  the  Hair,  .        .        .     285 

The  different  kinds  of  hair  on  the  human  body.  The  constitution  of 
the  hair  described.  Comparison  of  different  kinds  of  hair  under  the 
microscope.  The  effects  of  light  on  the  hair  in  modifying  its  color. 
The  muscles  that  make  the  hair  stand  on  end.  The  question  of  hairy 
races.  The  so-called  hirsute  freaks  of  museums.  The  beautifying 
effect  of  white  hair.  What  makes  hair  curl.  Sudden  change  in  the 
color  of  hair.  Dr.  Erasmus  Wilson  on  the  subject.  His  views  dis- 
cussed. Dr.  D.  W.  Prentiss  on  the  subject.  Some  of  his  cases  cited. 
Some  comment  on  Klein's  views  as  to  growth  of  hair.  Mature  and 
immature  and  congenital  baldness.  Dandruff  a  normal  product  of  the 
scalp. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Cosmetic  Care  and  Treatment  op  the  Hair,  .        .     305 

The  need  of  cleanliness  of  the  scalp.  Too  severe  methods  of  treating  the 
scalp  by  brushing.  The  abuse  of  the  fine-tooth  comb.  The  best  mode 
of  having  the  hair  cleansed.  The  perfumes  of  the  barber.  The  possi- 
bility of  the  individual  scalp  raising  a  certain  crop  of  hair,  and  uo 
more.  The  charlatanism  of  some  persons  who  pretend  to  be  conver- 
sant with  matters  connected  with  the  hair.  The  best  mode  of  proced- 
ure to  arrest  a  tendency  to  falling  hair.  Oil  or  grease  a  fertilizer,  not 
to  be  used  for  decorative  purposes.  The  capacity  of  the  hair  to  absorb 
moisture,  Strong  alcoholic,  tonic  solutions  used  too  frequently  on 
the  head.    How  to  dress  the  hair,  and  to  keep  it  in  the  highest  possi- 


X 1 1  CONTENTS. 

l'AGE 

ble  condition.  Theusi  of  the  galvanic  currenl  to  stop  incipient  loss  of 
hair.  Abnormal  presence  of  hair.  Recipe  for  removing  it.  The  cele- 
brated Turkish  Rusma,  used  for  the  same  purpose.  The  electric 
needle  used  for  the  same  purpose  with  conclusive  effect.  Recipes  [or 
stimulating  the  scalp  to  promote  the  growth  of  hair.  The  peroxide  of 
hydrogen  method  of  bleaching  the  hair.  The  utter  inefficiency  of  the 
bleaching  process  i"  produce  a  natural  effect. 

CHAPTEB   XXVI. 
Parasitic  [nvasions  of  the  Scalp,  Eair,  and  Body,      .     323 

Hallucinations  regarding  immunity  from  the  presence  of  the  bed-bug 
without  taking  constant  precautions.  The  itch,  the  pediculus  capitis, 
the  pediculus  pubis,  the  pediculus  corporis.  Substances  that  dislodge 
the  parasites.  To  get  rid  of  bed-bugs.  The  flea,  the  sand-flea,  the  tick, 
the  mosquito.  The  bites  of  sand-flies,  ants,  barley-mites,  spiders, 
centipedes,  etc.  The  stings  of  bees,  wasps,  and  scorpions.  Various 
recipes  for  allaying  the  irritation  caused  by  the  poison  of  bites  and 
stings. 

CHAPTEB   XXVII. 
The  Cosmetic  Cake  and  Treatment  of  the  Teeth,        .     333 

The  teeth  as  beautiful  adjuncts  of  the  body.  The  first  and  the  second 
ii.  The  composition  of  the  teeth.  The  con  1  racl  ion  of  the  modern 
jaw  except  as  to  talking.  The  causes  of  this  change.  Theeffectof 
tartar  in  loosening  the  teeth  in  their  sockets.  Mode  of  cleaning  the 
teeth.  Americans  the  best  dentists  of  the  world.  The  street-fakir's 
rough  treatment  of  the  enamel  of  the  tooth.  Recipes  for  tooth- 
powder.    Recipes  for  tooth-washes. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
The  Construction  and  Care  of  the  Eye,        .        .        .     341 

The  eye  as  a  much-abused  organ.  The  present  reckless  practice  in  the 
United  states  with  reference  to  the  eye.  Recommendation  to 
p<>  to  an  oculist,  not  to  an  optician,  Eor  any  first  provision  of  glasses 
ti.rthe  eye.  The  abuse  of  belladonna  bj  foolish  j^irls.  What  consti- 
tute- beauty  in  the  eye.  Popular  errors  about  eyes.  The  constitution 
of  the  eye.  How  the  eye  sees.  How  we  see  color.  The  Young-Helm- 
holtz theory.    Good  incidental  practices  in  using  the  eye.    Organicde- 

bS  of   the  eye.     The  a  in  nnnioilat  ion  of  the  eye.     Some   recipe-    for 

simple  eye-washes.  Recommendation  to  go  promptly  to  an  oculist 
whenever  the  ailment  experienced  seems  more  than  trifling. 

CHAPTEB  XXIX. 
The  Construction  and  Care  of  the  Ear,        .        .        .     353 

The  form  and  sense  of  hearing  of  the  human  ear.  as  compared  with  its  form 
■  and  sense  of  hearing  in  some  of  the  lower  animal-.  The  human  ear  well 
adapted  in  the  present  status  of  man  I'm-  his  purposes.  The  construc- 
tion of  the  ear  ami  the  philosophy  of  hearing.  Objective  and  subjec- 
tive sensations  of  hearing  defined.  The  disorders  to  which  the  ear  is 
liable.    Recipes  for  some  simple  lotions  for  earache.    Affections  more 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

serious  than  earache  should  induce  the  sufferer  to  go  at  once  to  a  skill- 
ful aurist.  The  bad  practice  of  habitually  wearing  cotton  in  the  ear. 
Disturbance  of  hearing  by  the  presence  of  hard  wax.  Recipe  for  a 
lotion  to  relieve  a  simple  case  of  undue  amount  of  wax  in  the  ear. 
Recipes  for  lotions  for  the  relief  of  inflammation  and  cracks  in  the 
external  ear. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
The   Nose  in   its   Physical,  Mural,  and   Intellectual 

Aspects,     .        .        .        .  ■ 3G3 

Justification  of  the  author  for  the  introduction  of  the  subject  of  the  nose 
in  this  work.  The  nose  associated  with  character,  apart  from  intellec- 
tuality. The  nose  as  also  indicative  of  intellectuality  and  refinement. 
The  big  noses  of  great  statesmen  and  generals  and  conquerors.  The 
usual  significance  of  a  pug-nose.  The  nose  as  the  seat  of  violent  in- 
flammations. Lupus,  popularly  called  cancer,  of  the  nose.  The  toilet 
of  the  nose.  The  unsanitary  practices  allowed  in  public  conveyances 
far  greater  than  the  forbidden  smoking. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Eood  in  its  Relation  to  Health,  Beauty,  and  Pleasure,     369 

The  subject  of  food  from  a  scientific  point  of  view.  The  question  of 
the  difference  of  taste  in  food  among  different  nations.  The  dif- 
ference between  the  traveler  and  the  home-abiding  in  their  re- 
spective capacities  for  the  acquirement  of  new  tastes.  A  late  change 
in  the  rations  of  the  Japanese  navy,  lessening  the  consumption  of  rice. 
The  singular  openness  of  the  Japanese  to  conviction  of  superiority  in 
other  nations.  Dujardin-Beaumetz  on  a  question  of  dietetics.  Inor- 
dinate liking  for  that  in  which  there  has  been  continuous  deprivation. 
The  slackness  of  country-people  generally  as  to  the  improvement  of 
their  tables  by  means  that  nature  lavishly  provides.  Plain  cooking  is 
the  no-art  of  the  cannibal.  The  expressed  contempt  of  the  English  for 
French  cooking,  and  their  real  liking  for  it.  The  relation  of  the  palate 
to  the  capacity  of  digestion.  Habit  must  be  reckoned  with  in  the  ac- 
quirement of  new  tastes.  Man  is  so  constituted  as  to  be  nearly  omniv- 
orous. Idiosyncrasies  in  certain  persons  as  to  certain  foods.  Good 
cooking  is  in  the  interest  of  the  poor.  "Whence  the  cooking  of  the 
United  States  is  chiefly  derived.  What  constitute  in  their  entirety 
the  pleasures»of  the  table.  How  the  pleasures  of  the  table  contribute 
to  health  and  beauty.  What  constitutes  the  true  mode  of  having  va- 
riety in  one's  food.  Expression  of  sympathy  with  the  mistresses  of 
households,  because  they  never  can  have  the  pleasant  surprises  of  the 
table  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  masters  of  the  household 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Clothing  in  its  Relation  to  Health,      ....     383 

Clothing,  as  the  protective,  healthful,  and  agreeable  covering  of  the  body. 
The  differences  existing  in  different  substances,  that  make  them  more 
or  less  suitable  for  clothing.  The  fabric  of  which  clothing  is  made 
ought  to  be  non-conducting  to  heat.  The  objectionableness  of  linen 
for  some  purposes,  and  its  suitability  for  others.    Wool  in  some  form 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Che  best  general  wear.  Cotton  aa  anderwear.  The  peculiarities  of 
silken  underwear.  Color  in  its  relation  to  clothing.  Borne  thickness 
of  underclothing  Bhould  be  worn  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  The 
addiction  of  the  world  to  going  by  the  almanac  as  to  the  change  of 
clothing. 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Ventilation  with   Relation  to  Health,.        .        .        .    389 

The  value  of  fresh  air.  Neglect  to  have  proper  supply  of  it  indwellings. 
A  popular  notion  confounds  cool  air  with  pure  air.  Tlie  two  kinds  of 
ventilation— natural  and  mechanical.  The  proper  amount  of  air  in 
cubic  feet  demanded  for  the  well  and  the  sick.  Hom  to  ventilate  by 
the  natural  method  How  to  air  the  bedrooms.  Prejudice  againsl 
night  air.  ramps  as  enjoyable  and  unenjoyable.  The  supply  oi'  air 
for  the  cellar-furnace.  The  necessity  of  keeping  the  air  of  the  cellar 
pure,  as  well  as  that  of  the  rest  of  the  house.  Surest  ion  as  to  places 
on  house-tops,  built  for  the  benefit  of  the  population  that  is  never  able 
to  go  to  the  country. 

CHAPTER  XXXIY. 
The  Circulation  and  Digestion, 397 

What  constitutes  respiration.    The  skin,  as  well  as  the  lungs,  respires. 

How  the  1 1  is  converted  into  matter  lit  for  the  renovation  of  the 

blood.  The  circulation  of  the  hi 1,  by  which  the  products  of  diges- 
tion are  conveyed  throughout  the  body.  The  circulation  of  man  as 
compared  w  ith  that  of  some  of  the  ldwer  animals.  The  physiological 
.significance  of  the  higher  modes  of  circulation. 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Cosmetic  Treatment  and  Cosmetic  Articles,  .        .        .     401 

A  brief  list  of  what  are  deemed  some  of  the  most  elegant  preparation-  for 
the  toilet,  with  mention  of  the  names  of  their  manufacturers.  Recipe 
for  Farina  cologne.  Recipe  for  bandoline.  Prize  recipe  for  cologne. 
Jelly  of  roses.  Japanese  pot-pourri.  Recipes  for  the  removal  of 
dandruff.  Hair-dyes.  Recipe  for  preparation  for  the  nails.  Face- 
powders.  Tea  hair-tonic.  Toilet-vinegar.  Strawberry  pomade. 
Three  recipe-  for  almond-meal.  Five  recipes  for  Florida  water. 
Four  recipes  for  brilliantine.  Protest  against  the  practice  of  "a 
close  shave." 

CHAPTER  XXXYI. 
List  op  Medicated  Soaps,       .  409 

List  of  twenty-nine  medicated  soaps,  with  mention  of  some  of  the  pur- 
poses for  which  they  are  used. 

CHAPTER  XXXYII. 
Household  Remedies, 411 

Baldness.  Bites  of  insects  and  eruptions.  Blackheads  of  the  skin.  Pods. 
Bunions.  Hums.  Burns  and  scalds.  Carbuncle.  Chapped  and 
cracked  lips.    Chapping  of  the  skin.    Chaps  and  rough  skin  of  the 


CONTENTS.  XV 

hands.  Chaps  or  cracks  at  the  corners  of  the  mouth.  Cracks  and 
irritation  around  the  nose.  Cracks  or  fissures  of  tin-  skin.  Cracks 
or  irritation  inside  of  the  nose.  Corns  or  bunions.  Dyspepsia.  Falling 
of  the  hair.  Fever-blisters.  Freckles  and  yellow  discolorations  of  the 
skin.  Frost-bite.  Hazeline  cream.  Inflamed  or  rough  skin.  Itching 
around  the  bowel.  Itching  of  the  skin.  Lanolin  cold-cream,  pomade, 
and  soap.  Laxative. for  children.  Moisture  of  the  hands.  Mouth- 
washes. Nettle-rash  (hives).  Pain  or  irritation  of  the  skin.  Perspi- 
ration.(excessive).  Perspiration  (excessive  or  odorous).  Perspiration 
(odorous).  Pigmented  spots  on  the  skin.  Pigment-spots  of  pregnancy. 
Pimples.  Plugs  or  grubs  of  the  skin.  Poisoning  from  ivy,  etc. 
Prickly  heat.  Rough,  pimply  neck  and  limbs.  Scars.  Sores  on  lips, 
mouth,  tongue,  or  throat  (canker  sores).  Sunburn.  Thick  skin  on 
hands  or  feet.    Toothache.    Warts.    Whitlow— Felon. 


Heredity,  Health,  and  Personal  Beauty. 


INTRODUCTION. 

WHEN  we  began  to  write  tliis  work  we  thought,  as  the  text 
clearly  indicates,  to  impart  some  information  strictly 
limited  to  the  non-scientific  world.  We  aimed  no  higher  than  to 
correct  some  popular  errors  regarding  the  theory  of  evolution, 
and,  in  addition,  to  call  attention  to  certain  heretofore  unnoticed 
results  of  the  law,  the  existence  of  which  the  theory  affirms. 
Little  did  we  dream  that,  before  we  had  long  entered  upon  our 
task,  we  should  happen  upon  a  recent  essay  of  a  member  of  a 
learned  society,  in  which  it  is  implied  that  Darwin,  in  his  par- 
ticular theory  of  the  causes  of  organic  evolution,  does  not  accord 
full  recognition  to  the  inheritable  effects  of  the  use  and  disuse 
of  vital  parts  by  an  organism,  and  that,  when  scarcely  recovered 
from  this  surprise,  it  would  be  renewed  by  the  statement  of  a 
member  of  another  learned  society,  who  contended  that  only 
congenital  characters  are  inherited,  because  acquired  characters 
are  not  inheritable. 

The  second  dictum,  that  only  congenital  characters  are  in- 
herited because  acquired  characters  are  not  inheritable,  begs  the 
question  in  dispute,  for  the  other  side  contend  that  characters, 
perforce  of  their  being  acquired,  become  congenital.  The  first 
dictum,  in  which  it  was  implied  that  Darwin  did  not  recognize 
fully  the  effects  of  the  use  and  disuse  of  vital  parts  by  or- 
ganisms as  among  the  agencies  of  change  in  them  and  their 
descendants,  shows  that  he  who  holds  that  opinion  has  not  read 
Darwin  with  sufficient  attention  to  know  that  not  only  are  those 
effects  of  use  and   disuse   explicitly  and    often  recognized  b}' 

1  (1) 


2  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

Darwin,  and  more  and  more  as  lie  advanced  in  life,  but  that  their 
affirmation  pervades  his  whole  theory  of  evolution  by  natural 
selection  as  a  minor  but  great  and  indispensable  cause  of  the 
change  observable  in  organisms. 

We  must  here  preliminarily  clear  the  ground  of  obstacles  to 
a  correct  understanding  of  the  particular  point  which  we  have 
in  view  for  discussion, — the  heritability  of  acquired  characters, — 
by  describing  the  distinction  made  between  the  elfects  in  the 
transmission  of  life  in  organisms,  due  to  the  pressure  of  external 
circumstances  under  purely  natural  conditions,  as  compared 
witli  similar  effects  taking  place  in  them  through  the  agency  of 
man,  or  exceptionally  arising  we  know  not  whence.  The  first 
conception  is  derived  from  that  view  of  life  which  regards  it  as 
tending  to  perpetuate,  while  modifying,  the  characters  of  or- 
ganisms through  countless  ages,  presenting  itself  to  our  minds 
as  indissolubly  linked  heredity.  The  second  conception  is  de- 
rived (according  to  its  advocates)  from  that  view  of  life  which 
ascribes  to  characters,  derived  from  changed  habits  and  the  use 
and  disuse  of  vital  parts,  through  artificial  selection  (man's 
agency  mingling  with  nature's),  obedience  to  the  same  law  of 
heredity.  It  is  the  second  class  of  these  conditions,  assumed  as 
inducing  change,  which  some  persons  deny  as  having  the  slightest 
influence  toward  hereditary  transmission.  These  latter  condi- 
tions are,  nevertheless,  those  which  are  denominated  by  all 
persons  "acquired  characters,"  although,  as  will  appear  later, 
that  is  only  for  convenience  of  distinction,  characters  represent- 
ing the  change  produced  by  purely  natural  selection  having 
been  acquired,  and  universally  admitted  in  various  degrees  to 
have  been  acquired,  by  all  who  believe  in  any  form  of  organic 
evolution, — that  is,  of  course,  congenitally  acquired. 

This  objection  is  made  in  the  face  of  many  contradictory 
fact^,  contained  in  the  inclusive  contradictory  fact  of  all,  that 
every  organism   must  be,  at   any  given   instant   of  time,  the 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

product,  fundamentally,  of  natural  forces  constrained  along 
lines  of  development  imposed  by  external  conditions,  no  matter 
whence  derived,  and  capable  of  transmitting  whatever  it  pos- 
sesses, however  acquired.  It  would  seem  that  it  should  be 
apparent,  we  insist,  that  it  is  the  existing  form,  however  acquired, 
that  must  be  transmitted,  actually  or  potentially,  to  render  pos- 
sible the  protean  changes  which  organisms  exhibit.  Brief!}-, 
Darwin's  theory  of  organic  evolution,  aside  from  its  features  of 
artificial  and  sexual  selection,  as  is  clearly  to  be  seen  by  an}-  one 
who  carefully  reads  his  works,  and,  as  is  admirably  set  forth  by 
Herbert  Spencer  in  his  "Factors  of  Organic  Evolution,"  recog- 
nizes that  the  power  of  both  natural  and  artificial  selection  to 
accumulate  variations  would  be  neutralized,  unless  use  and  disuse 
of  parts  by  organisms  so  changing  did  not  continuous!}'  tend  to 
mold  them,  functionally  and  structurally,  as  associated  with 
environment,  in  directions  conformable  to  the  primary  change. 
He  who  accepts  Darwin's  theoiy  of  evolution,  which  involves 
recognition  of  the  strictest  heredity  through  all  the  changes 
wrought  by  natural  selection,  should  logically  also  accept  heredi- 
tability for  characters  otherwise  acquired.  He  sees,  as  the  effect 
of  stress  in  purely  natural  environment,  all  change  handed  down 
to  posterity,  and  everywhere  discarded  forms  dwindled  to  rudi- 
ments in  the  adult  animal,  or  lying  latent  in  the  embryo,  and  he 
has  no  logical  right  to  regard  change  be}'ond  the  apparent 
limits  of  stress  in  natural  environment  as  beyond  the  pale  of 
transmission  to  posterity.  The  demonstrable,  systemic  change 
in  natural  environment  is  the  cogent  underlying  ground  for 
belief  that  all  change,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  an  environ- 
ment may  not  be  purely  natural,  is  transmitted,  at  least  poten- 
tially, even  if  it  escape  our  demonstration  in  the  individual  case 
as  existing.  This  is  the  a  priori  deduction  from  acceptance  of 
the  theory  of  natural  selection  as  true,  but  it  is,  a  posteriori, 
supported   by  numerous  facts  that  do  not  seem  to  reach  the 


4  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

apprehension  of  the  opponents  of  this  view.  This  state  of  mind 
is  well  described  by  Herbert  Spencer,  when,  in  speaking  of  the 
dawn  of  discussion  as  to  organic  evolution,  be  said,  "I  look 
back  with  surprise  at  the  way  in  which  the  facts  which  were 
congruous  with  the  espoused  view  monopolized  consciousness 
and  kept  out  the  farts  which  were  incongruous  with  it — con- 
spicuous thougb  many  of  them  were.1' 

Considering  that  man  is  the  summit  of  nature  as  we  know 
it  on  earth,  in  whom  nature  is  completed  and  crowned,  and  that 
the  effects  of  his  agency  are,  therefore,  a  part  of  nature;  consid- 
ering, too,  that  nature's  deviations  upon  its  sole  responsibility 
are  not  always  explicable;  considering  all  the  facts  we  know, 
it  seems  -blind  to  limit  the  power  of  evolution  to  lines  beyond 
which  we  may  well  ask,  If  it  be  not  Nature  there  working,  what 
is  working  there?  Yet  it  is  denied,  by  such  persons  as  we  have 
described,  that  characters  are  acquired  except  through  natural 

ction.  The)-  explicitly  rule  out  as  transmissible  not  only 
characters  arising  from  physiological,  but  also  those  arising  from 
pathological,  change  of  function;  that  is,  they  dispute  the  exist- 
ence of  the  hereditability  of  acquired  characters,  whether  in 
health  or  disease. 

Let  us,  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  a  broader  view  of  the  gen- 
eral subject  under  discussion,  note  in  passing  the  difference 
between  the  two  existing  doctrines  of  evolution.  One  side  holds 
that  incorporate  with  the  organism  itself  is  the  principle  of  its 
life  and  growth,  largely  independent  of  environment.  That  is 
to  say,  according  to  this  view,  environment  represents  only  an 
auxiliary  principle  in  development.  This  view,  it  ought  to  be 
seen  at  a  glance,  is  untenable  in  face  of  the  large  adaptedness  of 
living  things  at  a  given  instant  of  time  to  their  environment.  So 
close  is  this  relation  of  living  things  to  their  surroundings  that 
unscientific  persons  still  regard  them  as  having  been  created  from 
the  beginning  just  as  they  now  exist. 


INTRODUCTION.  0 

The  other  side  to  this  controversy — which  side,  with  what- 
ever modifications,  includes  the  mass  of  scientific  men — is  with 
Darwin.  It  grants  that  the  organism  is,  in  fact,  endowed  with 
a  vital  principle  involving  determinate  tendencies  as  to  size, 
form,  and  habitat,  but  affirms  that  it  is,  through  the  character 
of  its  environment,  modified  so  as  to  be  in  accord  with  change 
in  the  environment,  or  else  is  extirpated.  In  other  words,  it  is 
alleged  by  this  side  that  the  vital  principle  and  law  of  growth 
in  an  organism  represent  forces  which  encounter  in  the  organism 
other  forces  represented  by  the  environment,  and  that,  as  the 
organism  must  in  consecpience  either,  live  or  die,  or  have  well  or 
ill  being,  according  to  the  suitableness  or  unsuitableness  of  its 
environment,  or  its  final  ability  or  inability  to  conform  to  its 
environment,  the  character  of  its  existence  at  any  given  point 
of  time  is  the  resultant  of  those  forces,  plus  the  concomitant 
force  of  conformability  in  function  and  structure  to  the  primary 
change  through  the  use  and  disuse  of  vital  parts  of  the  organ- 
ism. According  to  this  theory,  in  which  we  have  implicit  faith, 
the  principle  with  which  the  organism  is  endowed  renders  it, 
with  time,  more  or  less  adapted  to  its  changed  environment, 
individuals  incapable  of  variation  dying  off,  and,  if  without 
sufficient  time,  all  paying  the  penalty  of  death  from  inability  to 
meet  the  new  demand  upon  their  vitality. 

That  the  effects  of  use  and  disuse  of  vital  parts  are,  in  fact, 
if  not  clearly,  implied  by  the  doctrine  of  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  ought  to  be  seen  when  we 
consider  that,  in  the  change  of  species  through  the  ages,  nature 
could  have  given  nothing  directly  out  of  hand,  but  onby  indi- 
rectly, as  by  parcels,  through  the  medium  of  both  environment 
and  habit  acting  on  the  organism.  A  variety  issuing  out  of  the 
loins,  so  to  speak,  of  its  predecessors,  to  be  perhaps  fiually 
represented  by  a  species  very  unlike  them,  is  subjected  by  nature 
to  what,  to  enable  it  to  change?     Fundamentally  to  changed 


6  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

exterior  physical  conditions.  Bui  the  coincident  effect  to  which 
it  is  subjected,  inseparable  from  those  new  conditions,  is  t he 
tendency  to  the  use  and  disuse  of  vital  parts.  The  tendency  in 
this  case  means  the  actual  use  and  disuse,  however  at  first  feeble, 
of  those  \ital  parts  of  the  organism.  Use  and  disuse  of  such 
l>:uts  could  be  the  only  efficient  cause,  relatively  Bpeaking,  of 
Becaring  stability  of  the  primary  modifications  from  natural 
selection,  (iiven  variability,  which  is  admitted,  and  variation, 
whioh  must  be  if  variability  is,  and  we  find  that  use  and  disuse 
of  vital  parts,  internal  as  well  as  external,  must  accompany  and 
confirm  primary  change,  or  else  it  would  prove  abortive.  How 
otherwise  can  we  understand  that,  in  the  course  of  ages,  structures 
have  changed  so  as,  without  scrutiny  of  many  intermediate 
forms,  to  render  animals  hardly  recognizable  as  the  descendants 
of  their  demonstrated  ancestors,  when  at  the  same  time  we 
recognize  them  as  so  well  adapted  to  their  present  environment, 
and  the  old  form  as  less  adapted  to  it,  or  not  at  all? 

Hence  we,  for  our  part,  contend  that  change  of  function  is 
inseparable  from  change  of  structure,  that  the}'  are  so  intimately 
linked  in  the  bond  of  life  that  they  change  pari  j)assu,  and  that 
discussing  them  separately  should  be  regarded  only  as  a  matter 
of  convenience.  Hence,  we  believe  in  the  transmission  of  all 
characters,  however  acquired,  for  there  is,  a  priori,  no  reason  for 
excluding  the  germinative  plasm  of  organisms  from  the  somatic 
or  bodily  plasm  of  organisms,  and,d  posteriori,  no  reason  for  so 
doing  in  the  face  of  a  multitude  of  confirmatory  facts. 

In  the  affection  of  the  germinative  plasm  of  the  organism, 
coincidently  with  the  outward  change  of  the  organism,  through 
change  of  environment  and  all  that  that  implies  in  changed 
habits  and  food,  and  through  use  and  disuse  of  vital  parts  and 
consequent  change  in  function  and  structure,  all  the  effects 
shown  in  the  adaptation  of  the  organism,  through  its  reaction 
to  its  environment,  are  summed  up.     Unless  this  be  the  process 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

of  organic  development  it  is  subject  to  no  law  but  that  which 
makes  it  the  false  seeming  of  a  reality.  Therefore,  as  law  is 
apparently  omnipresent  we  can  afford  to  say  that,  unless  it  be  a 
real  law  that  we  seem  to  see,  there  is  no  organic  evolution ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  if  that  seeming  be  real,  that  the  law  involves 
the  transmission  of  all  characters,  those  arising  from  the  inter- 
vention of  man,  those  termed  fortuitous,  as  well  as  those  arising 
in  the  stress  of  the  most  implacable  struggle  for  existence,  and 
consequently  in  all  these  blended. 

The  reader  is  now  better  prepared  to  consider  understand- 
ingly  the  statements  which,  we  said  at  the  beginning,  had 
awakened  our  surprise.  We  will  treat  of  them  seriatim,  with 
somewhat  more  amplification  than  as  there  recorded. 

The  first  learned  gentleman  attempted  to  show  that,  the  vital 
principle  apart,  all  organic  changes  are,  within  the  environment, 
chiefly  consequent  upon  the  use  and  disuse  of  vital  parts.  This 
is  not,  as  we  have  intimated,  a  correct  view.  The  use  and  disuse 
of  vital  parts  is  a  vera  causa,  but  not  the  primary  one.  The 
primary  one,  in  order  of  importance  and  time,  is  the  action  of 
nature,  exclusive  or  inclusive  of  man,  in  producing  the  variation 
which  other  agencies,  even  artificial  and  sexual  selection  in 
the  higher  organisms,  subsequently  contribute  to  mold.  If,  in 
the  stress  which  nature  puts  upon  organic  life,  disuse  did  not 
follow  diminished  usefulness,  and  increased  usefulness  greater 
use,  and  structure  in  conformity  to  both,  change  could  not  be 
permanent,  for  variation  in  any  part  necessitates  functional  and 
structural  change  in  all,  especially  in  co-ordinate  parts.  "What- 
ever Darwin  might  have  said,  the  effect  of  use  and  disuse  of 
parts  must  lie  back  of  his  theory  of  organic  evolution  as  the 
indispensable  cause  of  permanent  change ;  not  of  mere  change, 
let  the  reader  mark,  but  of  permanent  change  in  determinate 
directions.  Darwin,  however,  affirms  the  fact  in  some  places  in 
his  works  and  implies  it  in  others.     In  the  following  passage  he 


8  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

affirms  it  with  singular  conclusiveness,  because  he  is  repudiating 
there  the  representation  that  had  been  made  by  his  critics  to  the 
contrary  effect.  In  the  preface  to  the  second  edition  of  "The 
Descent  of  Man  "  he  says: — 

I  may  take  tins  opportunity  of  remarking  that  my  critics  frequently  assume 
that  I  attribute  all  changes  of  corporeal  structure  and  mental  power  exclusively 

to  the  natural  BelectlOD  of  such  variations  us  are  often  called  spontaneous; 
whereas,  even  in  the  first,  edition  of  "The  Origin  of  Species,"  I  distinctly  stated 
that  great  weight  must  he  attributed  to  the  inherited  eti'eets  of  use  and  disuse 
With  respect  both  to  the  body  aud  mind. 

If  natural  selection  stopped  short  at  putting  stress  upon 
organisms,  even  the  forms  most  susceptible  of  correlated  change 
might  not  be  capable  of  resisting  death.  But,  assuming  within 
an  exterior  change  at  least  temporary  endurance  of  the  new 
conditions,  no  organism,  without  use  and  disuse  of  existing 
parts,  could  rise  or  fall,  in  function  or  structure,  above  or  below 
the  forms  best  adapted  to  survive  at  the  time  of  the  changed 
conditions.  The  fittest  at  that  time,  if  they  survived,  would 
remain  through  their  descendants,  if  the  exterior  conditions  did 
not  again  change,  the  fittest  for  all  time  to  survive.  There  would 
be  no  evolution, — that  is,  no  development  to  higher  or  lower 
forms :  their  status  would  be  permanently  fixed.  An  aquatic 
animal  could  not  have  become  a  terrestrial  one,  nor  a  terrestrial 
one,  as  in  the  case  of  the  placental  mammal,  the  whale,  an 
aquatic  one. 

Nature  can  modify  nothing  to  the  extent  of  making  it  a  new 
creation  merely  by  putting  stress  upon  it.  Stress  is  more  than 
negative  :  it  represents  opposition  where  it  does  not  represent 
antagonism.  Opposition  does  not  of  itself  create  b}r  the  slowest, 
or  any,  process.  Only,  as  from  the  effects  of  use  and  disuse  of 
parts  in  changing  function  and  structure,  is  it  possible  to  con- 
ceive of  organisms  subjected  to  change  in  environment  continu- 
ing to  live  with  different  aspects  under  changed  conditions. 

We  have  already  remarked  of  the  second  learned  gentleman's 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

contention,  that  only  congenital  characters  are  inherited  because 

acquired  characters  are  not  inheritable,  that  it  is  a  begging  of 

the  question  whether  acquired  characters  do  or  do  not  become 

congenital.     As,  however,  his  dictum  comes  within  the  lines  of 

what  a  much  more  prominent  man,  August  Weismann,  thinks, 

we  will  examine  some  of  the  points  made  by  the  latter  in  his 

work,"  Essaj-s  upon  Heredity  and  Kindred  Biological  Problems." 

We  quote  from  the  late  English  translation  of  Weismann's  work 

(page  85)  as  follows  : — 

When  the  wild  duck  became  domesticated  and  lived  in  a  farm-yard,  all  the 
individuals  were  compelled  to  walk  and  stand  more  than  they  had  done  previ- 
ously, and  the  muscles  of  the  leg  were  used  to  a  correspondingly  greater  degree. 
The  same  thing  happens  in  the  wild  state  when  any  change  in  the  conditions  of 
life  compels  an  organ  to  be  more  largely  used.  No  individual  will  be  able  to 
avoid  this  extra  use,  and  each  will  endeavor  to  accommodate  itself  to  the  new 
conditions  according  to  its  power.  The  amount  of  this  power  depends  upon  the 
predisposition  of  the  germ,  and  natural  selection,  while  it  apparently  decides 
between  individuals  of  various  degrees  of  strength,  is,  in  truth,  operating  upon 
the  stronger  and  weaker  germs. 

This  statement,  whether  or  not  Weismann  saw  the  absurd 
consequence,  means  that  the  prepotential  force  of  the  original 
germinative  plasm  so  overrides  every  other  tendency  of  the 
wild  duck  that  the  germ  must  contain  in  itself  special  reference 
to  the  duck's  becoming  pedestrian  in  a  wild  state,  or  as  belong- 
ing to  a  farm-yard  breed. 

Weismann  says,  on  page  189  of  the  translation  mentioned  : — 

E.  Roth  has  objected  that  in  pathology  we  everywhere  meet  with  the  fact 
that  acquired  local  disease  may  be  transmitted  to  the  offspring  as  a  predisposition ; 
but  all  such  cases  are  exposed  to  the  serious  criticism  that  the  very  point  that 
first  needs  to  be  placed  on  a  secure  footing  is  incapable  of  proof,  viz.,  the  hypoth- 
esis that  the  causes  which  in  each  particular  case  led  to  the  predisposition  were 
really  acquired. 

What  is  the  question  ?  It  is  whether  or  not  disease  can  be 
inherited.  Weismann  says  that  it  cannot  be,  unless  the  predis- 
position, as  having  been  acquired,  can  be  demonstrated.  This 
slams  the  door  in  the  face  of  the  anxious  inquirer  after  truth, 
for,  no  matter  how  man}*-  or  few  generations  in  a  line  of  descent 


10  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

one  might  go  back  to  find  a  point  when  the  predisposition  had 
been  acquired,  the  answer  would  be,  despite  all  circumstantial 
evidence  proving  the  fact  of  such  acquirement,  IIow  do  }-ou 
positively  know  that  it  was  then  acquired?  Weismann's  position 
in  this  denial  is  a  very  safe  one,  for  it  renders,  so  far  as  he  is 
concerned,  all  prospect  of  a  solution  of  the  question  impossible, 
through  evasion  of  the  conclusions  that  are  deemed  legitimate 
from  recognized  premises  in  similar  investigations.  Primeval 
perpetuity,  according  to  his  statement,  must  be  allowed  to 
predisposition,  and  its  ever  being  an  acquired  character  may, 
therefore,  be  safely  denied.  According  to  this  dictum,  the 
first  man  must  have  had  a  disease  badly  to  have  been  able  to 
transmit  it  so  far. 

On  page  269  of  the  translation,  Weismann  out-herods 
Herod  in  this  kind  of  argumentation,  when  stating  that — 

The  children  of  accomplished  pianists  do  not  inherit  the  art  of  playing  the 
piano;  they  have  to  learn  it  in  the  same  laborious  manner  as  that  by  which  their 
parents  acquired  it;  they  do  not  inherit  anything  except  that  which  their  parents 
possessed  when  children,  viz.,  manual  dexterity  and  a  good  ear. 

Did  any  one  ever  claim  that  it  is  necessary  to  the  doctrine 
of  hereditability  of  acquired  characters  that  such  a  possession 
as  this  should  be  proved  to  have  been  transmitted?  This  is  not 
an  acquired  character, — it  is  not  a  character  at  all ;  it  is  an 
acquired  art.  Weismann  might  as  well  have  said  that  we  do 
not  observe  that  the  children  of  famous  pianists  are  born  with  a 
piano.     He  goes  on  to  say  in  the  same  passage  : — 

Furthermore,  language  is  not  transmitted  to  our  children,  although  it  has 
been  practiced  not  only  by  ourselves,  but  by  an  almost  endless  line  of  ancestors. 

Why,  is  it  not  known  on  all  sides  that  articulation,  without 
reference  to  language,  is  but  a  faculty  only  secondaril}*  combined 
with  organs  whose  primary  function  is  for  an  entirely  different 
purpose,  and  that  speech,  as  the  existence  of  different  languages 
proves,  is  only  a  conventional  mode  of  communicating  thought, 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

and  constitutes  merely  an  art?  Who  ever  thought  of  claiming 
that  any  art — music,  speech,  painting,  or  sculpture,  or  aught 
else  that  is  extrinsic  to  the  body — could  be  affected  by  heredity  ? 
Such  arguments  as  these  make  one  lose  all  confidence  in  the  con- 
clusions of  Weismann's  personal  microscopical  investigations, 
in  which  otherwise  one  would  gladly  look  for  instruction. 

With  one  more  citation  from  this  work  on  heredity,  we  con- 
clude the  presentation  of  what  we  deem  sufficient  evidence  to 
prove  the  utter  unreliability  of  Weismann's  conclusions.  It  is 
to  be  found  on  pages  95  and  96  of  the  work  hitherto  quoted 
from : — 

In  my  opinion,  there  is  absolutely  no  trustworthy  proof  that  talents  have 
been  improved  by  their  exercise  through  the  course  of  a  long  series  of  genera- 
tions. The  Bach  family  shows  that  musical  talent,  and  the  Bernoulli  family 
that  mathematical  power,  can  be  transmitted  from  generation  to  generation,  but 
this  teaches  us  nothing  as  to  the  origin  of  such  talents.  In  both  families  the 
high-water  mark  of  talent  lies  not  at  the  end  of  the  series  of  generations,  as  it 
should  do  if  the  results  of  the  practice  are  transmitted,  but  in  the  middle. 

This  proves  nothing  but  that  the  intermixture  of  other 
blood,  not  specially  endowed  in  the  same  direction,  diminishes 
mental  manifestation  of  the  original  talent.  It  has  been  proved 
repeatedly  by  Galton  and  others  that  descent  in  the  direct  line, 
despite  this  intermixture,  has  long  shown  hereditary  qualities 
of  marked  type,  generation  after  generation  of  persons  pecu- 
liarly adapted  to  certain  emplo3'ments  being  engaged  in  them 
in  numbers  so  great  that  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  those 
employments  were  originally  sought  by  all  on  account  of  their 
special  personal  aptitude  for  them.  If  the  increased  speed  of 
the  trotting  horse  within  fifty  years,  from  a  mile  in  two-forty 
to  about  a  mile  in  two-ten,  is  not  significant  of  change  in  the 
animal,  due  to  appropriate  change  in  function  and  structure,  in 
addition  to  the  effects  of  artificial  selection  of  stock  to  breed 
from,  what  else  will  account  for  it  ?  The  gait,  as  a  fast  one,  is 
not  natural  to  the  horse ;  the  extreme  development  of  what  the 


I-  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

best  liQrse  could  at  first  do  with  practice  in  the  trot  was  soon 
reached;  artificial  selection  could  find  nothing  better  than  was 
at  lii-t  discovered  in  the  way  of  stock  to  breed  from.  Whence, 
then,  can  come  what  still  remains  to  be  accounted   for  in  the 

enormous  increase,  in  fifty  years,  of  speed  in  the  trotter,  but 
from  its  having  been  modified  in  function  and  structure,  and 
the  effects  transmitted  to  the  progeny?  If  men  and  women  did 
not  mate  for  love  and  money  and  a  thousand  other  motives 
than  with  reference  to  the  qualities  of  their  descendants,  but, 
like  the  domesticated  animals,  were  bred  for  various  qualities, 
we  could  make  great  musicians,  painters,  mathematicians,  gen- 
erals, or  athletes,  at  pleasure,  unchecked  save  by  the  occasional 
effect  of  atavism.  Although  this  will  never  be,  we  may  yet 
clearly  perceive,  if  we  but  observe  closely,  with  minds  divested 
of  prejudice,  the  working  of  the  indicated  law,  which,  as  it  has 
ever  done,  holds  important  sway  at  all  times  and  in  all  places 
on  earth. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   GENERAL   LAWS   OF    HEALTH. 

IN  entering  upon  the  subject  of  health  and  personal  beauty, 
which  are  correlated,  it  is  best  to  consider,  first,  what  is  life, 
which  includes  them  both.  The  obvious  reason  for  this  course 
is  that  if  health  and  physical  beauty  depend  on  the  observance 
of  the  laws  of  life,  at  least  upon  those  of  well-being,  without 
which  life  would  not  be  worth  living,  then  we  can  best  under- 
stand the  production  and  maintenance  of  these  attributes  through 
knowledge  of  their  source. 

The  most  ordinary  observer  recognizes  everywhere  the 
difference  between  life,  both  animal  and  vegetal,  and  mere  stocks 
and  stones.  He  sees  that  the  crucial  test  of  life  is  ability  or 
inability  to  produce  after  the  manner  of  the  kind, — animals,  ani- 
mals ;  vegetables,  vegetables.  He  knows  perfectly  well  that  a 
block  of  red  sandstone  is  derived  from  a  stratum  of  the  earth's 
crust,  but  is  not  one  of  its  descendants,  while  from  the  highest 
animal  to  the  lowest  they  are  respectively  the  progeny  of  similar 
beings.  He  sees  this  distinction  as  clearly  as  does  the  most 
profound  man  of  science,  with  one  exception.  This  exception 
is  that  he  does  not  know,  what  is  largely  the  revelation  through 
the  microscope,  of  the  existence  of  a  world  which  has  alwa}Ts 
been  beyond  his  ken,  in  which  animal  and  vegetable  forms  so 
descend  in  the  scale  of  life,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  have  not 
risen  in  it,  that  they  are  sometimes  scarcely  distinguishable,  and 
sometimes  not  at  all.  In  a  word,  barring  this  exception,  the 
most  ignorant  of  men  sees  as  clearly  as  the  most  instructed  the 
essential  difference  between  the  organic  and  the  inorganic 
world. 

But  that  is  only  a  small  step,  although,  as  being  the  first, 
an  indispensable  one  to  comprehension  of  life   in  its  various 

(13) 


14  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

aspects.  Until  one  has  grasped  and  firmly  holds  the  central 
idea  that  all  life  is  fundamentally  represented  by  different  kinds 

of  cells,  which  also  produce  after  the  manner  of  their  kind, 
through  various  transformations,  he  fails  to  obtain  possession 
of  the  clue  which  leads  to  perception  of  many  of  the  conse- 
quences which  environ  living  things.  The  old  doctrine  of  the 
naturalist  was  that  all  life  is  derived  from  an  egg.  The  doctrine 
of  the  modern  naturalist  is  that  all  life  proceeds  from  a  cell,  for 
an  egg  is  nothing  but  a  complex,  or,  as  he  would  call  it,  a  dif- 
ferentiated cell.  It  is  the  germinal  vesicle  of  the  specialized 
cell  of  the  egg  that  fundamentally  contains  life.  All  else  of  the 
egg,  in  yelk  and  albumen,  is  mereby  concentrated  proteid  food  for 
the  nourishment  of  its  growing  inmate,  or  shell  for  its  protection 
during  the  period  of  incubation. 

In  both  animals  and  vegetables,  from  the  lowest  organisms, 
consisting  of  a  single  cell,  to  the  highest  manifestations  of  life 
in  each,  consisting  of  untold  numbers  of  cells,  the  unit  of  life  is 
the  cell,  capable,  in  health,  through  unknown  laws,  of  reproducing 
its  kind,  and  of  changing  its  manifestations  of  kind  in  the  for- 
mation of  varying  products.  Bones,  marrow,  cartilage,  tissues 
of  all  sorts  in  the  human  body  are  nothing  but  the  final  tempo- 
rary resting-stage  of  cells  which  have  assumed  protean  forms 
and  functions.  Even  the  blood  itself,  through  which  the  whole 
organism  is  revivified,  is  to  be  regarded  pl^siologically  as  a  tissue. 
A  tissue  more  plastic  than  the  others,  its  flow  is  through  ap- 
pointed channels,  bearing  with  it  cells  consisting  of  red  and 
white  corpuscles,  the  former  of  which,  as  they  move  along  with 
the  curi'ent,  have  the  power  of  renewing  oxygen  in  the  other 
tissues,  while  the  latter,  known  as  leucocytes,  or  wandering  cells, 
with  distinct  power  of  motion,  can  become  saprophytes,  or  cells 
acting  as  the  scavengers  of  the  circulation. 

From  the  cradle  to  the  grave  there  is  no  absolute  resting- 
stage  of  life,  whether  in  the  single  cell  or  in  the  organism  as  a 


THE   GENERAL   LAWS   OF   HEALTH.  15 

whole.  Life  is  acting  and  being  reacted  upon  by  complex  influ- 
ences from  the  earth,  earthy,  and  from  far  beyond,  by  those 
derived  from  sun  and  moon,  upon  which  the  earth  itself  depends. 
The  body,  through  its  tissues,  composed  of  cells,  is  ceaselessly 
wasted  and  repaired,  as  the  fundamental  condition  of  temporary 
endurance  in  the  struggle  to  which  every  organic  being  finally 
succumbs  through  the  law  of  death.  It  will  therefore  be  per- 
ceived what  bearing  these  remarks  have  on  the  laws  of  life  as  the 
condition  precedent  of  health ;  that  is,  unless  we  are  so  situated 
by  circumstances  of  climate  and  other  surrounding  conditions, 
and  at  the  same  time  obey  the  laws  of  life,  we  cannot,  no  matter 
what  the  strength  of  the  original  organism,  enjoy  health. 

We  examine  our  canceled  checks,  add  to  them  ones  still 
outstanding,  and,  by  comparison  of  the  sum-total  with  our  de- 
posits in  bank,  carefully  cast  the  balance  to  find  out  what  still 
stands  to  our  credit  there.  But  in  life,  even  in  robust  health, 
how  manj'  carefully  reckon  up  the  income  and  outgo  to  ascertain 
what  is  the  balance  of  endurance  left?  So  far  are  most  reason- 
able creatures  from  following  such  a  course,  it  is  generally 
enough  for  man  or  woman  to  be  robust  for  them  to  consider  their 
capital  unlimited.  Pleasure,  vanity,  and  a  thousand  other  frivo- 
lous motives  induce  us  to  spend  lavishly  of  the  greatest  of  all 
treasures.  The  old  woman  in  the  fairy  tale,  with  her  mumbling 
jaws  and  rheum-streaming  eyes,  was  eager  to  exchange  all  her 
riches  for  the  poor  girl's  blooming  cheeks  and  rounded  form,  and 
not  less  eager  was  the  maiden,  in  ignorance  of  the  value  of  her 
priceless  possessions,  to  seal  the  bargain  on  the  spot.  But,  the 
mutual  transfer  made,  how  immediately  the  maiden  saw,  from 
her  withered,  living  grave,  that  all  the  riches  of  the  earth  cannot 
compensate  for  the  joy  that  wells  in  the  heart  of  youth,  health, 
and  beauty. 

Youth  ought  to  mean  health  ;  move's  the  pity  that  it  does 
not  always  mean  it.     In  the  nature  of  things,  we  grant,  youth 


If)  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

cannot  always  mean  it,  for  poverty,  dimate,  inheritance  from 
selfishness,  which  should  never  have  left  offspring,  are  common. 
Even  in  human  selfishness  is  an  ineradicable  cause  of  the 
wretched  lot  of  many  human  beings.  But  to  the  readily  prevent- 
able causes  of  ill  health  we  may  be  permitted  to  refer  those 
arising  from  unhygienic  practices  and  habits  of  life  ;  the  reckless 
squandering  of  vitality, because  the  capital  seems  unlimited ;  the 
deliberate  shutting  of  the  eyes  to  overdraft  on  vitality  for 
temporary  gratification,  whether  from  vanity,  love  of  gayety, 
pleasures  of  the  table,  artificial  stimulation,  or  sexual  excess. 

It  is  astonishing  to  a  physician  to  observe  for  what  appar- 
ently slight  motives  persons  will  sacrifice  their  health.  \Ve 
knew  of  the  case  of  one  man,  who  had  been  noted  as  a  great 
walker.  Signs  of  unmistakable  decadence,  brought  about  by 
addiction  to  this  exercise  in  excess,  otherwise  most  laudable, 
were  apparent  to  the  most  casual  observer.  Probably  the  signs 
were  evident  to  him  also,  but  he  did  not  impute  them  to,  or  he 
closed  his  eyes  to,  their  real  source.  Exercise,  in  the  abstract, 
being  indisputably  beneficial,  he  would  continue  to  exercise 
inordinately.  Nature  soon  eliminated  him  by  death.  Some  per- 
sons said,"  How  strange;  he  was  such  an  athlete  1"  Yet  he  died, 
when  he  died,  because  he  was  such  an  athlete.  His  particular 
constitution  at  the  stage  which  he  had  reached  could  not  stand 
the  strain  upon  it  of  further  athleticism. 

Rational  exercise  relates  to  the  constitution  of  the  individual 
and  the  surrounding  conditions.  The  strength  of  a  constitution 
can  be  determined  by  an  examination  by  a  competent  physician. 
Every  intelligent  person,  however,  ought  to  be  able,  for  himself, 
to  reach  conclusions  in  the  main  correct  as  to  his  own  stamina, 
but  as  ever}'  intelligent  person  does  not  reach  those  conclusions, 
and,  in  fact,  very  rarely  does,  we  must  conclude  that  the  intel- 
ligence is  generally  blinded  by  pride,  or  vanity,  or  some  other 
cause.     We  remember  saying,  several  years  ago,  with  reference 


THE   GENERAL   LAWS   OF    HEALTH.  17 

to  a  college  notable  then  and  now  for  its  prominence  in  athletic 
sports,  that  it  was  extraordinary  the  Faculty  of  the  college  did 
not  make  it  an  imperative  rule  that  none  of  its  students  should 
take  part  in  athletic  sports,  in  which  a  final  contest  was  con- 
templated, without  first  of  ajl  being  subjected  to  the  most  rigid 
physical  examination.  At  that  time  students  came  on  the  scene, 
chosen  b}r  their  fellow-students,  simply  with  regard  to  muscular 
development,  without  the  slightest  reference  to  stamina.  Young 
men  who  could  not  swim  were  actually  allowed  to  take  part  in 
aquatic  contests,  occupying  the  cockle-shell  of  a  contrivance 
represented  by  the  modern  race-boat.  All  this  is  changed  now 
in  that  college,  but  the  change  should  have  been  made  long  pre- 
viously, or  rather  a  change  should  not  have  been  requisite,  for 
from  the  first  the  rule  should  have  been  mandatory,  that  a  phys- 
ical examination  should  settle  the  admission  or  exclusion  of  any 
collegian  in  the  sports  which  require  a  course  of  severe  phj-sical 
training  and  final  supreme  effort.  Only  lately,  in  a  collegiate 
race,  every  man  in  the  defeated  crew  succumbed  to  exhaustion, 
and  was  put  to  bed,  some  of  them  in  sorry  enough  plight.  On 
Lake  Saratoga  we  once  saw  a  man  faint  in  his  boat  from  sheer 
exhaustion,  a  man  whom  we,  from  his  mere  appearance,  should 
at  a  glance  have  excluded  as  incapable  of  severe  physical  strain, 
while  in  another  boat,  not  far  off,  the  whole  crew,  in  mid-lake, 
was  thrown  into  confusion  by  a  similar  scene. 

We  might  go  on  indefinitel}r,  multiplying  instances  to 
prove  how  little  regard  is  paid  Irv  the  majorit}^  of  persons  to 
the  question  whether  a  man  is  by  constitution  fit  to  withstand 
the  drain  requisite  for  great  muscular  development,  and  the 
final  intense  nervous  tension  of  the  contest  for  supremac}\ 
The  man  lives  not  so  strong  that  he  may  not  be  overtrained 
and  constitutionally  impaired,  from  which  it  follows  that,  for  a 
given  feat,  the  selection  should  be  most  rigid  and  exclusive, 
especially  for  college  students.    What  is  feasible,  too,  at  one  time 


IS  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

of  li IV  is  not  feasible  at  another.    Did  any  one  ever  considerwhy 

it  is  that  Cornell  must  of  necessity  defeat  other  colleges  in  the 
United  States  in  boat-racing,  and  why  it  is  that  she  has  been 
rigidly  excluded  from  most  competitions?  Galton  shows  us 
plainly  in  his  work  on  "  Hereditary  Genius,"  where  he  proves 
the  transmission  of  mental  traits,  that  even  muscle  for  particular 
kinds  of  exercise  is  inherited,  the  boatmen  on  the  Thames  being 
generally  the  descendants,  through  a  long  ancestry,  of  other 
boatmen.  The  men  of  Cornell  are  not  general!}'  the  descend- 
ants of  boatmen,  that  is  true,  but  the  class  to  which  man}'  be- 
longed, at  least  when  Yale,  upon  being  defeated  by  her,  decided 
against  further  competition  with  "country  colleges,"  were  the 
inheritors  of  muscle,  for  many  of  them  were  men  who  had 
worked  at  trades,  and  had  been  thereby  enabled  to  take  a 
college  course  as  the  fruit  of  their  previous  exertions.  Not 
only  were  many  of  them  thus  muscularly  descended,  but  the 
circumstance  to  which  we  have  just  referred  brought  it  about 
that  the  age  of  very  man}'  was  greater  than  that  of  an  equal 
number  of  persons  at  other  colleges.  Now,  as  the  fact  is 
anatomically  established  that  a  man  is  not  fully  formed  in 
all  parts  until  25  years  of  age,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
advantages  of  Cornell  were  then,  with  anything  like  an  equal 
number  of  students  to  select  from,  much  greater  for  a  racing 
contest  than  are  those  of  any  other  college  in  the  country.  As 
between  Oxford  and  Cambridge  the  contests  are  about  equal, 
and  for  the  reason  that,  while  the  range  of  selection  is  numeri- 
cally about  the  same,  the  class  of  men  is  also  about  the  same.  As 
between  Yale  and  Harvard  the  rowing  contests  are  not  exactly 
equal,  and  for  a  corresponding  reason,  that,  although  numeri- 
cally the  students  are  about  the  same,  the  class  of  students, 
if  regarded  as  a  whole,  varies  slightly. 

The  imprudences  in  exercise  to  which  we  have  referred  do 
not  cease  with  men.     A  few  years  ago  it  became  the  practice  in 


THE   GENERAL   LAWS   OF   HEALTH.  19 

some  parts  of  the  country  for  young  girls  to  take  long  walks. 
It  was  so  English,  you  know.  Besides,  every  one  who  is  or  has 
been  young  knows  how  fascinating  it  is  to  take  long  walks  with 
an  ngreeable  partner  of  the  opposite  sex.  The  trees  wave,  the 
shadows  fall,  the  blossoms  peep  in  the  spring,  or  the  nuts  rustle 
through  the  twigs  in  the  autumn,  all  the  more  pleasantby  for  the 
chat  and  rippling  laughter  of  a  congenial  partner  in  the  ramble. 
But,  these  being  constitutional  walks,  duty  must  not  be  forgot- 
ten, although  pleasure  be  allowed  full  sway.  And  so,  even  girls 
at  the  tender,  turning  age,  when  they  should  be  so  physically 
discreet,  would  often  plod  weary  miles  in  this  climate,  which, 
however  patriotic  we  may  be,  we  are  not  bound  to  hold  as  par- 
ticularly suitable,  except  during  a  very  brief  term  in  spring  and 
autumn,  for  long  pedestrian  courses.  It  was  a  fad,  an  inviting 
fad,  that  led  in  some  cases  which  came  under  our  observation  to 
distinctly  enfeebled  health  and  constitutional  impairment.  The 
skating  mania  among  young  girls,  especially  as  exhibited  in 
closed  rinks,  was  even  worse  in  its  effects  on  health,  bj-  the 
immensely  larger  proportion  of  the  infatuated  who  were  the 
victims  of  it. 

The  present  evil  in  the  same  direction  is  lawn-tennis,  but 
that  can  never  become  so  prevalent.  It  also  solicits  the  free  and 
joyous  intercourse  of  the  two  sexes  in  the  open  air,  and  is  there- 
fore doubly  seductive.  We  have  nothing  to  say  against  it  as  a 
most  innocent  and  exhilarating  sport,  nothing  to  say  against 
any  innocent  diversion  in  moderation.  But,  just  as  in  England, 
where,  from  being  an  essentially  amateur  game,  amateur's  came 
to  play  it  with  almost  professional  skill,  so  here  has  emulation 
led  manjr  a  girl  to  exercise  far  more  than  was  for  her  good. 
Would  that  3routh  could  learn  some  of  the  wisdom  of  years, 
that  the  possibilities  of  pleasure  flee  from  excess.  Ah,  "  si  la 
jeunesse  savait,  si  la  vieillesse  pouvait" — if  youth  had  but 
discretion  and  age  were  but  capable  1 


20  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

But  the  physical  overdoing  of  things  by  members  of  either 
sox  is  not  the  only  cause,  among  otherwise  innocent  things,  of 
depressed  vitality.  We  have  known  many  cases  where  half- 
formed  youth  have  racked  their  brains  and  shattered  their  ner- 
vous systems  by  overstudy  at  a  time  of  life  when  a  better  alterna- 
te r  would  have  been  to  saunter  along  through  life  picking 
cowslips  by  the  streamlet's  brink.  But  no  such  single  alternative 
lies  in  the  situation,  for  the  true  alternative  is  moderation, — 
moderation,  the  guiding  star  of  the  wise,  which  even  some  of  the 
ancients  followed  as  a  beacon  through  life.  We  were  once 
acquainted  with  a  young  man  who  must  needs  know  more  Greek 
than  the  capacity  of  man  can  property  receive  within  a  brief 
college  course.  The  college  where  he  was  a  student,  although 
one  of  the  first  in  the  land,  one  capable  of  imparting  as  much 
Greek  to  a  man  as  he  could  well  stagger  under  through  life,  was 
not  good  enough  because  not  Greek  enough  for  him,  for  in  an- 
other college  there  was  more  Greek,  and  at  the  end  of  the  vista 
a  splendid  prize  to  be  obtained  by  passing  the  highest  examina- 
tion in  the  language.  He  left  his  college  and  enrolled  himself 
at  the  other,  and  studied  harder  and  harder  as  the  fateful  time 
approached.  The  last  part  of  his  study  was  in  bouts  of  eigh- 
teen hours  a  day,  with  wet  cloths  bound  about  his  head.  He 
won  the  prize,  but  what  became  of  the  man?  We  met  him  upon 
his  return,  crushed  under  the  spoils  of  victory.  He  asked  our 
advice  as  to  his  condition  of  health.  We  said  :  "  Return  to  your 
mother,  Earth.  There  is  meaning  in  the  old  classical  legend 
where  it  describes  Antaeus,  son  of  Earth,  striving  with  Hercules, 
and  renewing  his  strength  every  time  his  foot  touched  the  soil, 
until  Hercules  mastered  him  at  last  by  raising  him  aloft  and 
squeezing  him  to  death  in  his  embrace."  We  said  to  him : 
"  Return  to  the  bosom  of  your  mother,  Earth ;  she  will  restore 
you  if  it  be  possible."  We  went  with  him  for  a  few  days,  saw 
him  revive  under  the  influence  of  her  balmy  breath,  and  his 


THE  GENERAL  LAWS  OF  HEALTH.  21 

spirits  and  love  of  life  return.  Then  we  were  obliged  to  leave 
him,  and  since  we  know  nothing  of  his  existence,  whether  he  be 
alive  or  dead.  But  if  there  was  a  chance  for  him,  we  pointed  it 
out  when  we  bade  him  return  to  the  bosom  of  the  kindly  mother 
from  whom  he  had  so  widely  departed. 

,  Another  case  we  knew,  of  a  young  man  of  decided  mathe- 
matical and  astronomical  talent,  who,  because  he  had  such  ex- 
ceptional gifts,  was  stimulated  to  the  top  of  his  bent  to  climb  to 
the  highest  range  of  acquisition.  Him,  too,  we  saw  at  the  end 
of  a  long  course  of  superlative  effort  bowed  like  an  old  man, 
plodding  listlessly  along,  evidently  far  removed  from  interest  in 
life,  perhaps,  as  he  seemed,  even  weary  of  it.  Some  of  the  great 
monuments  of  Greece,  although  in  ruins,  still  attest  her  ancient 
grandeur,  and  with  the  best  of  her  literature  still  survive,  and 
the  stars  pursue  their  courses  as  they  have  rolled  since  the  crea- 
tion of  the  universe.  But  what  advantageth  it  them,  the  world, 
or  the  universe  that  a  man  should  wreck  his  mortal  frame  in 
Greek  and  astronomical  lore  in  seeking  to  reach  emp3Trean 
heights?  What  accrued  to  these  two  poor  young  men,  to  whose 
cases  we  could  add  a  score,  in  advantage  to  themselves  or  others 
from  such  self-sacrifice  ?  The  measure  of  one's  self  one  should 
take  with  the  measure  of  accomplishment.  This  is  the  plain 
wisdom  for  every  human  being  through  eveiy  act  of  life. 

The  celebrated  Hufeland,  German  philosophic  physician, 
instructed  all  who  might  read,  long  before  the  daj^s  of  the 
wondrous  modern  advance  in  physiological  knowledge,  that  life 
in  the  individual  varies  in  intenseness,  that  its  existence  and 
duration  depend  on  draught  upon  it.  The  life  of  the  old  and 
feeble  is  a  faint  flame  that  burns  steadily  low.  Trim  and  stimu- 
late too  much  the  wick,  represented  b}-  the  failing  body,  and  the 
flame  flashes  up  for  a  moment  and  then  expires.  But,  no  matter 
what  the  strength  of  the  individual,  the  same  underlying  law 
obtains  through  the  fact  that  everywhere,  at  all  times,  the  body 


22  HKKKD1TY,   HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

has  relation  to  amount  of  exercise  of  function  in  its  environ- 
ment. Take  the  very  strongest  in  brain  or  muscle,  and  exercise 
these  unduly,  or  in  undue  relation  to  each  oilier,  ami  the  vital 
flame  burns  Lower  and  lower  until  it  may  be  snuffed  out  with  a 
breath.  What  is  rest  cure?  The  discovery  of  a  modern  phy- 
sician? Not  at  all.  It  is  born  of  the  instinctive  knowledge  of 
every  mortal  wearied  in  body  or  mind.  What  is  camp  cure?  Is 
it  the  discovery  of  the* same  physician?  Not  at  all.  It  is  at 
bottom  the  instinctively  self-prescribed  cure  by  the  physically 
depressed,  yearning  for  the  pure  breath  of  the  fields  and  heavens. 
One  of  the  miracles  in  this  world's  strange  and  unequal  dis- 
position of  its  goods  is  their  partial  apportionment  among  the 
unappreciative.  It  would  really  seem  at  first  as  if  deprivation 
were  necessary  to  secure  appreciation.  The  pent-up  people  of 
cities  long  for  the  landscape  and  the  air  to  which  country  people 
never  give  a  thought.  But  this  is  the  superficial  aspect  of  this 
state  of  things,  the  truth  of  which  cannot  be  denied.  Below  the 
surface,  at  the  true  inwardness  of  it,  lies  the  fact  ,that  depriva- 
tion, although,  as  it  always  does,  stimulating  desire,  is  not  the 
sole  or  the  greater  cause  of  this  difference.  That  lies  in  the 
generally  higher  grade  of  education  in  cities  raising  the  mind 
to  greater  love  of  nature  as  well  as  of  art,  through  which,  in 
turn,  comes  greater  appreciation  of  nature  itself.  Show  us  the 
village  or  little  town,  or  farm-house,  however  endowed  in  its  sur- 
roundings by  nature,  whose  inhabitants  generally  seek  the  fields, 
woods,  and  hills  for  the  sake  of  any  beautiful  prospect.  Show  us 
any  such  place  where  the  wretched  pictures  on  the  walls  do  not 
betray  the  possessor's  ignorance  of  nature  as  seen  through  art. 
Is  it  the  eye,  through  the  picture  thrown  on  the  retina,  that  sees  ? 
Yes,  in  a  measure,  but  in  far  from  the  larger  measure.  It  is  the 
mind  that  sees  through  the  agency  of  the  eye  as  its  instrument. 
Hence,  men  see  so  differently,  differently  according  to  their 
original  constitution  of  mind,  and  differently  according  to  their 


THE  GENERAL  LAWS  OF  HEALTH.  23 

cultivation.  If  some  of  our  country  friends,  whose  homes  and 
habits  differ  from  those  herein  described,  are  inclined  to  think 
our  picture  overdrawn  of  the  striking  difference  exhibited  in 
culture  as  to  nature  and  art  between  denizens  of  the  city  and 
those  of  the  country,  we  say  with  the  poet,  if  you  seek  the 
monument,  look  around  you.  If  you  present  happy  exemption 
from  the  rule,  thank  heaven  that  you  are  not  as  other  country- 
men in  that  regard.  But  do  not  natter  yourselves  that  your 
happy  condition  represents  the  rule.  Travel  through  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land,  as  we  have,  taking  in  its  average  farm 
and  country  life,  and  j^ou  will  find  that  what  we  have  said  is 
strictly  true,  that  the  country  generally  cares  for  neither  nature 
nor  art. 

Here,  then,  we  have  presented  one  of  the  standing  anoma- 
lies of  civilization,  that  a  great  number  of  persons  are  constrained 
to  live  in  cities  who  love  and  are  capable  of  appreciating  the 
country,  while  a  large  proportion  of  those  living  in  the  country 
are  destitute  of  the  sense  of  the  picturesque.  We  knew  a  young 
girl  of  17  years  of  age,  of  perfect  leisure;  idle,  one  might  sa}r, 
except  when  in  attendance  on  a  fashionable  school.  Around  her 
village  home  nature  had  lavished  a  profusion  of  gifts  in  gray- 
blue  rocks  surmounted  by  foliage,  brilliant  in  summer,  and  all 
the  more  in  the  glowing  autumn,  while  beyond,  at  a  turn,  about 
a  mile  awajr,  of  the  rock-parapeted  road  that  led  from  the  home 
in  which  she  had  been  born  and  reared,  broke  the  glorious  sea 
with  its  everlasting  roar.  Yet  she  had  never,  as  she  mentioned, 
unconscious  of  its  strangeness,  been  even  as  far  as  that  inviting 
turn  in  the  road,  in  plain  view  from  the  porch  of  her  father's 
house.  The  peculiarity  of  the  case  does  not  lie  in  its  isolation, 
for  we  have  met  multitudes  of  such  cases,  differing  not  at  all  in 
kind,  but  solely  in  degree. 

Here  is  a  contrast,  indeed,  between  the  city  maiden,  who 
would  love  to  roam,  if  it  were  ever  safe,  on  the  outskirts  of  her 


24  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

city, and  the  average  country  girt,  who  habitually  shrinks  from  the 
exercise  of  walking,  and  cares  not  a  straw  lor  scenery.  Could 
Ave  transplant  them  it  would  certainly  be  well.  We  d<>.  in  a 
measure,  transplant  one,  as  the  yearly  exodus  to  the  country 
shows.  But  here  the  city -bred  meet  a  difficulty  hard  to  under- 
stand in  a  rich  and  luxuriant  land.  In  real  country  living  the 
barbaric  stage  of  fried  cooking  is,  for  the  most  part,  found. 
One  cannot  live  on  view  alone;  the  mind  refuses  to  lend  itself  to 
the  highest  aesthetic  enjoyment  while  the  body  grumbles  for  the 
lost  flesh-pots  of  Egypt.  An  Irish  servitor  of  ours,  who  ac- 
companied us  on  one  of  our  tours,  put  it  neatly  when  he  said 
one  day  to  the  hostess  of  our  temporary  lodging,  "  Ach,  indade, 
ye  may  talk  about  your  fresh  country  vigetables  and  milk  and 
crame,  but  I  find  the}'  come  in  the  city  much  better  to  the 
gate !  " 

Where,  too,  is  to  be  found  the  freshest  air  and  brightest 
light,  there  they  are  the  most  rigidly  excluded.  Who  does  not 
know  the  stuffy,  darkened  rooms  of  the  ordinary  farm-house,  the 
subtle  smell  in  the  chambers  of  the  painted  window-shades,  and 
of  the  long-plucked  feathers  in  the  pudding  bed  ;  the  sitting- 
room  with  its  single  ray  of  light,  sparing  the  colors  of  the  carpet, 
by  which  one  navigates  toward  a  book;  and  the  one  room  de- 
voted to  refreshments,  where  alone  are  light  and  air,  and  flies 
hold  high  revelry?  This  is  no  fancy  sketch  of  multitudes  of 
farm-houses  we  have  visited.  We  have  ridden  day  al'ter  day 
amid  mountains,  with  knapsack  strapped  behind  the  saddle  and 
rifle  resting  athwart  the  pommel,  dismounting  to  catch  trout  or 
to  draw  a  bead  upon  some  startled  deer.  At  night-fall  we  have, 
with  our  companions,  hobbled  the  horses  to  allow  them  to  graze 
with  restricted  liberty,  and  then,  becoming  a  cook  for  the  nonce, 
have  helped  prepare  viands  in  the  style  of  Homer's  heroes. 
Then  we  have  retired  to  our  blankets  with  a  profound  sense  of 
comfort  not  experienced  in  man}'  a  farm-house.     There  was  at 


THE  GENERAL  LAWS  OF  HEALTH.  25 

least  fresh  air.  Oh,  what  a,  boon  is  fresh  air!  And  the  sunshine, 
perhaps,  would  greet  us  in  the  morning.  What  healing  there  is 
in  these  two  ministers  to  life!  This  is  a  savagely,  but  it  is  the 
sweetest  phase  of  savagery ;  savagery  without  its  famines  and 
its  baleful  passions ■;  savagery  with  the  sweetness  of  the  earth 
around,  under  the  pure  canopy  of  heaven  with  its  twinkling 
stars.  It  is  the  kind  of  savagery  that  only  the  highest  civiliza- 
tion can  thoroughly  enjo}'.  Compared  with  the  barbarousness 
or  the  semi-civilization  of  life  which  shuts  out  by  the  walls  of  a 
house  what  seeks  entrance  as  some  of  the  kindliest  gifts  of 
heaven,  it  is  luxury.  Digestion  waits  on  appetite;  the  whole 
physical  and  mental  being  is  exalted  and  in  touch  with  some- 
thing higher  than  ordinary  life. 

In  cities  the  knowledge  of  hygienic  living  is  far  greater 
than  in  the  country.  Despite  the  unfavorable  surroundings  for 
health,  which  make  the  death-rate  in  cities  much  larger  than  in 
the  country,  the  checks  are  greater  there  against  disease  and 
death.  The  city  collects  within  its  boundaries  the  ablest  plry- 
sicians  of  the  land ;  even  poverty  proves  no  bar  to  receiving  the 
best  medical  treatment ;  general  sanitary  knowledge  among  the 
educated  is  quite  high ;  the  municipality  sees  to  the  drainage 
and  other  salutary  measures  ;  it  guards  against  ignorance,  care- 
lessness, or  recklessness,  by  demanding  for  the  public  good  that 
no  one  shall  maintain  an  unhealthful  nuisance;  even  neighbor 
is  watchful  over  neighbor  for  his  own  and  the  public  weal,  that 
eveiy  noxious  condition  or  practice  that  may  lead  to  disease  or 
pest  shall  be  removed.  Undoubtedly  there  is  still  room  for 
much  improvement,  and  great  improvement  is  being  constantly 
made  through  increase  of  general  knowledge  of  sanitary  laws. 
The  city's  chief  fault,  at  the  present  time  of  its  generally  rapid 
growth  in  this  country,  is  in  not  efficiently  guarding  against 
dumping  of  improper  matter  in  the  process  of  filling  and 
grading  at  its  extreme  limits.     Yet  we  cannot  but  admit,  at  the 


26  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,    AM>   PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

Bame  time,  that  with  such  a  periphery  us  many  a  city  lms, 
moderately  policed  :is  all  our  pities  are,  the  guardians  of  the  law 
must  needs  be  Argus-eyed  and  nearly  ubiquitous,  always  to  pre- 
vent the  nuisance  of  improper  dumping,  especially  as  much  oi'  it 
is  stealthily  done  after  night-fall.  When,  therefore,  we  consider 
the  intrinsic  difficulties  which  a  city  encounters,  from  the  na- 
ture of  the  Case,  in  enforcing  sanitary  conditions,  and  the  com- 
parative ease  with  which  they  could  be  reached  in  the  country, 
the  difference  in  sanitary  knowledge  and  practice  as  between 
cit}'  and  country  is  amazing. 

We  think  that  we  have  shown,  although  briefl}',  without 
unduly  entering  into  details,  that  in  both  city  and  country  the 
ills  which  flesh  is  reputed  to  be  heir  to  might  be  largely  abated 
if  people  generally  were  more  conversant  with  the  laws  of  life, 
as  to  air,  light,  warmth,  and  exercise.  There  are,  however, 
many  other  points  as  to  these  laws  upon  which  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  touch  when  we  come  to  detailed  instruction  in 
reference  to  them  in  the  following  pages.  The  moral  of  what 
has  heretofore  been  remarked  is  that  the  law  of  life,  which  is 
fundamentally  that  of  health,  is  that  the  tissues  of  the  body, 
down  to  the  ultimate  cells  of  which  they  are  composed,  shall 
freely  bathe  in  oxygen,  and  the  organism  reject  the  carbonic 
acid  which  represents  its  poisonous  waste.  Fresh,  highly  0x3-- 
genated  air,  is  not  merely  the  breath  of  the  nostrils  ;  the  nostrils 
are  but  the  channels  for  convening  it  to  the  tissues.  The 
organism  craves  oxygen  in  every  tissue,  craves  the  actinic  or 
chemical  rays  of  the  sun,  and  light  and  warmth.  It  demands  in 
moderation  exercise  of  function,  because,  however  admirably 
parts  were  originally  endowed,  they  cease,  from  neglect  or 
disuse,  to  preserve  their  pristine  integrity.  And  so  complex 
and  correlated  is  the  mechanism  of  the  system  that  one  part 
cannot  be  deranged  without  injuriously  affecting  others  in  an 
ever-widening  circle.     Not  less  would  we  seek  to  impress  upon 


THE  GENERAL  LAWS  OF  HEALTH.  27 

the  reader  the  fact  that  through  the  influence  of  mind  upon 
body  health  is  concerned  in  the  education  and  excitation  of  the 
spiritual  part  of  being,  through  all  influences,  including  nature 
and  art,  which  raise  the  mind  above  the  sordid  cares  of  life.  It 
is,  in  fine,  through  the  deployment  in  moderation  of  all  the 
faculties  of  mind  and  body  that  they  receive  the  strength  and 
equipoise  which  represent  perfect  being. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   REGULATIVE   LAW   OF   LIFE   AND   GROWTH. 

IT  is  indispensable,  for  realizing  the  significance  of  natural  laws 
relating  to  health  and  beauty,  that  one  should  first  of  all 
understand  the  regulative  law  of  all  life,  that  which  makes  any 
manifestation  of  life  what  it  is  at  any  stage,  makes  all  living 
things,  mankind  included,  what  the}^  are, — the  law  of  evolution. 
It  will  therefore  be  necessary,  before  proceeding  further,  to  give 
the  true  interpretation  of  this  law,  which  is  not  only  popularly 
misunderstood,  but,  despite  all  the  discussion  of  it  by  scientific 
men,  is  as  to  some  points  often  misconceived  and  misstated  in 
quarters  otherwise  marked  by  intelligence  and  education.  Why 
this  should  be  so  is  not  easily  solved,  unless  it  may  be  ascribed 
to  the  circumstance  that  very  many  persons  have  not  examined 
at  first-hand  the  works  which  have  striven  to  demonstrate  the 
existence  of  the  law,  but  have  received  at  second-hand  the  inter- 
pretations, adverse  criticisms,  and  ridicule  of  it  engendered  in 
the  heat  of  controversy.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that  although 
the  most  prominent  modern  enunciation  of  the  law  was  at  first 
received,  save  by  a  very  few,  with  unbounded  dissent,  some  of 
its  stanchest  scientific  opponents  were  gradually  won  over  to  a 
recognition  of  it,  which  now  includes,  almost  without  exception, 
save  as  to  details,  the  whole  generation  of  scientific  men  which 
has  arisen  since  its  most  remarkable  modern  affirmation. 

But  it  is  not,  at  least  at  first,  intended  to  speak  here  as  to 
the  truth  or  falsity  of  the  alleged  law.  We  will  therefore  revert 
to  the  point  of  popular  misinterpretation  of  its  meaning,  as 
stated.  In  brief,  divested  of  all  that  is  extraneous,  the  popular 
notion  of  this  alleged  law,  as  advocated  b}^  Darwin,  is  that  man 
originates  from  a  monkey.     Charles  Lamb,  it  will  be  remembered, 

(29) 


30  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

spoke  in  fun,  without  a  thought  of  anything  else,  of  monkeys  as 
his  poor  relations.  That  is,  however,  we  believe,  the  strictly 
average  popular  notion  of  Darwin's  scientific  conception,  with 
not  a  particle  of  fun  about  it,  but  in  sober,  serious  earnest. 
Beyond  that  strictly  popular  view,  through  varying  degrees  of 
misinformation,  we  find  a  large  amount  of  what  Darwin  wrote, 
either  misinterpreted  or  else  so  inadequately  stated  as  to  give 
the  falsest  of  impressions.  This  is  not  matter  for  great  surprise 
to  any  one  who  has  observed  among  mankind  the  tendency  to 
seek  the  lines  of  least  resistance,  the  saving  of  trouble,  by 
adopting  at  second-hand  opinions  which  can  be  obtained  at  first- 
hand only  b}T  labor.  There  is,  however,  to  our  knowledge  one 
extremely  surprising  source  of  misinformation.  The  "  Encj^clo- 
psedia  Britannica  "  stands  pre-eminent  among  works  of  its  kind 
as  embod}'ing  the  most  learned  and  thorough  information  on  all 
important  subjects.  But,  notwithstanding  this,  the  reference  to 
Darwin,  under  the  article  "  Lamarck,"  is  most  misleading.  The 
author  of  the  article  Bays  : — 

It  is  therefore  only  the  sufficiency  of  the  Lamarckian  hypothesis  to  explaiu 
the  first  commencement  of  new  organs  which  is  in  question,  if  evolution  by  the 
mere  operation  of  forces  acting  in  the  inorganic  world  be  granted ;  and  eun'ly 
the  Darwinian  theory  is  equally  helpless  to  account  for  the  beginnings  of  a  new 
organ,  while  it  demands  as  imperatively  that  every  stage  in  the  assumed  heredi- 
tary development  of  an  organ  must  have  been  useful. 

Just  preceding  that  statement  the  author  had  remarked  : — 

Thus,  for  example,  neither  theory  considers  that  it  has  to  deal,  not  with 
crude  heaps  of  functional  organs,  but  with  exquisitely  orderly  forms,  nor  accounts 
for  the  symmetrical  first  appearance  of  parts  or  for  sex;  nor,  though  Lamarck 
tried  hard,  has  he  or  any  later  writer  reduced  to  physical  law  the  rise  of  conscious- 
ness in  association  with  structures  which  In  their  physical  relations  are  mere 
mechanisms  capable  of  reflex  actions. 

But,  as  generally  understood,  Lamarck's  theory  assumes  that 
structure  may  make  its  beginning  through  need  and  corre- 
spondent reflex  action  simulating  desire;  whereas  Darwin's 
theory  assumes  no  such  thing,  but  that  the  structure,  however 
rudimentary,  already  exists.   He  illustrates  his  idea  in  one  place 


THE    REGULATIVE   LAW    OF    LIFE    AND   GROWTH.  31 

by  citing  the  case  of  the  eye,  which  in  its  simplest  form  is  merely 
a  nerve  surrounded  by  pigment-cells  and  covered  with  translucent 
skin,  but  without  any  other  apparatus,  lens  or  anything  else ;  so 
that,  in  consequence,  it  is  capable  of  perceiving  light,  but  not 
form.  Thus  it  is  hardly  fair  to  speak  of  Darwin's  theory  as 
being  helpless  to  account  for  a  thing  for  which  it  does  not  attempt 
to  account,  but  expressly  assumes  in  all  cases  to  exist  as  the 
condition  of  modification.  Neither  does  Darwin  speak  of,  nor 
have  in  mind,  "  crude  heaps  of  functional  organs,"  but,  as  the 
preceding  citation  shows,  structures  that  are  orderly,  however 
low  in  the  scale  of  being  ;  structures  that,  whether  high  or  low 
in  the  scale,  are  susceptible  of  differentiation,  which  might,  in- 
deed, be  retrogressive  instead  of  progressive.  Variability,  de- 
pendent upon  external  conditions,  the  capacity  of  change,  is 
always  affirmed  b}^  him,  and  that  implies  the  existence  of  the 
thing  which  can  change.  And  so  far  is  it  from  being  correct  to 
say  that  he  (for  of  course  he  is  included  under  the  expression, 
"nor,  though  Lamarck  tried  hard,  has  he  or  any  later  writer  y) 
does  not  try  to  account  for  the  manner  in  which  sex  ma}*  have 
arisen,  besides  the  pointing  of  a  number  of  his  remarks  in  that 
direction,  Darwin  explicitly  says,  in  "  The  Descent  of  Man  " : — 

In  the  dim  obscurity  of  the  past  we  can  see  that  the  early  progenitor  of  all 
the  vertebrata  must  have  been  an  aquatic  animal,  provided  with  branchiae,  with 
the  two  sexes  united  in  the  same  individual,  and  with  the  most  important  organs 
of  the  body  (such  as  the  brain  and  heart)  imperfectly  or  not  at  all  developed. 

Finally,  as  to  consciousness,  Darwin  assumes,  as  most  men 
do,  that  it  is  probably,  in  however  dim  a  degree  sometimes,  co- 
extensive with  animal  life.  Some  of  the  Neo-Lamarckians,  the 
disciples  of  the  new  school  of  Lamarck,  now  hold  that  there  is 
consciousness  in  the  simplest  animal  protoplasmic  forms,  and  in 
truth,  while  watching  the  movements  of  infusoria  through  the 
microscope,  it  is  difficult  to  denj-  them  the  attribute  of  conscious- 
ness as  interpreted  through  movement  apparently  with  purpose. 
Darwin  seems  to  assume  the  existence  of  consciousness   in  at 


32  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

least  very  low  animal  organisms,  and  in  one  of  its  two  highest 

manifestations,  as  conscience,  he  discusses  it  in  the  following 

passage  in  "  The  Descent  of  Man."     He  says  : — 

The  moral  nature  of  man  has  reached  Its  present  standard  partly  through 
the  advancement  of  his  reasoning  powers  and  consequently  of  a  just  public 
opinion,  but  especially  from  bis  sympathies  having  been  rendered  more  tender 
and  widely  diffused  through  the  effects  of  habit,  example,  instruction,  and  reflec- 
tl"ii.  It  is  not  improbable  that  after  long  practice  virtuous  tendencies  maybe 
inherited.  With  the  more  civilized  races  the  conviction  of  the  existence  of  an 
all-seeing  Deity  has  had  a  potent  influence  on  the  advance  of  morality.  Ulti- 
mately man  does  not  accept  the  praise  and  blame  of  his  fellows  as  his  sole  guide, 
though  few  escape  this  influence;  but  his  habitual  convictions,  controlled  by 
reason,  afford  him  the  safest  rule.  His  conscience  then  becomes  the  chief  judge 
and  monitor.  Nevertheless,  the  first  foundation  or  origin  of  the  moral  sense  lies 
in  the  social  instincts,  including  sympathy;  and  these  instincts  no  doubt  were 
primarily  gained,  as  in  the  ease  of  the  lower  animals,  through  natural  selection. 

It  is  quite  pertinent  to  the  above  remarks  to  add  an  expres- 
sion of  Darwin's  own.     He  sa3rs  : — 

Great  is  the  power  of  steady  misrepresentation ;  but  the  history  of  science 
shows  that,  fortunately,  this  power  does  not  long  endure. 

But,  upon  turning  to  the  name  of  the  author  of  the  article 
in  question  on  Lamarck,  which  incidentally  does  such  scant 
justice  to  Darwin's  views  as  represented  by  himself,  we  find  it 
to  be  that  of  a  Scotch  professor,  and  the  reader  need  hardly  be 
reminded  that  many  Scotchmen  not  only  "jock  wi  diflicoolty," 
but  find  it  hard  to  receive  new  ideas  without  the  surgical  inter- 
ference of  which  Sydney  Smith  spoke. 

In  the  popular  notion  of  Darwin's  belief  there  are  several 
implied  errors  :  1.  That  Darwin  was  the  first  person  to  conceive 
and  formulate  the  theory  of  evolution.  2.  That  he  confined 
himself  to  the  derivation  of  man  from  some  lower  form.  3.  That 
the  form  from  which  he  believed  man  to  be  derived  was  some  ape 
or  monkey,  as  we  now  know  those  animals.  It  is  therefore  de- 
sirable here  to  notice  these  points  in  the  order  in  which  they  are 
named. 

Aristotle,  who  lived  nearly  four  centuries  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Christian  era,  left  certain  speculations  on  the  subject 


THE   REGULATIVE   LAW   OF   LIFE    AND   GROWTH.  33 

of  modification  in  descent  of  organized  animal  forms,  crude  in 
conception,  but  clearly  indicating  the  idea  that  animals  might 
descend  from  each  other  in  a  series  of  gradual  modifications. 
Coming  down  to  modern  times,  the  same  idea,  although  having 
doubtless  occurred  to  many  men  in  the  interval,  first  permanently 
emerges  from  obscurity  in  the  writings  of  the  celebrated  Button, 
who  was  born  in  1707  and  died  in  1788.  Erasmus  Darwin,  the 
grandfather  of  Charles  Darwin,  the  man  whose  views  we  have 
here  under  consideration,  was  the  next  prominent  writer  on  the 
subject  between  1794  and  1796.  The  statement  by  him  of  these 
particular  views,  however,  in  a  book  which  was  noted  for  its  ex- 
travagance, led  to  no  impression  at  the  time.  It  was  not  until 
the  writings  of  the  distinguished  Frenchman,  Lamarck,  appeared, 
between  the  j'ears  1801  and  1815,  that  real  interest  was  for  the 
first  time  awakened  to  the  subject.  From  that  time  to  the 
present  the  question  has  hardly  been  allowed  to  slumber. 
Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire  published  in  1828  a  modified  view  of  the 
doctrine  of  evolution,  recognizing  previous  instability  of  living 
forms,  but  hesitating  to  believe  that  they  are  still  unstable,  and 
in  1851  he  again  resumed  the  subject  with  greater  boldness  in 
the  affirmation  of  his  conclusions.  Several  distinguished  names 
then  intervene,  too  numerous,  although  really  few,  for  mention 
in  a  work  like  this,  and  then  we  come  upon  the  names  of  Darwin 
and  Wallace,  suddenly  appearing  upon  the  scene  of  this  discus- 
sion. Both  were  known  as  distinguished  naturalists,  but  now, 
in  1859,  they  first  appear  before  the  world  as  identified  with  the 
discussions  on  the  subject  of  which  we  are  speaking.  Their 
conjunction  and  following  career,  in  which  their  work  touched  at 
so  manjr  points,  is  so  remarkable  that  it  deserves  passing  notice. 
Darwin  had  been  the  naturalist  of  the  British  ship  "Beagle," 
in  its  celebrated  voyage  around  the  world,  and  for  a  little  over 
twenty  years  after  his  return  had  been  collecting  evidence  in 
favor  of  his  theory,  when  Wallace,  who  was  studying  the  fauna 


34  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

and  flora,  of  the  Malay  archipelago,  suddenly  sent  him  a  paper 

containing  an  expression  of  the  same  views  -which  he  himself 
entertained,  requesting  him  to  forward  it  to  Sir  Charles  Lyell, 
the  geologist.  Here  was  an  extraordinary  complication.  Had 
not  the  persons  concerned  been  high-minded  men,  the  situation 
might  have  led  to  most  disagreeable  consequences.  Luckily, 
Sir  Charles  Lyell  and  Dr.  Hooker,  the  naturalist,  both  knew  of 
Darwin's  labors  in  the  direction  in  which  Wallace  was  uninten- 
tionally anticipating  him  in  apparent  priority  of  demonstration. 
As  the  result  of  consultation  between  these  wise  friends  of  the 
two  parties  most  interested,  the  conclusion  was  reached  and 
carried  into  effect,  of  publishing,  with  Wallace's  memoir,  in  the 
Linnsean  Journal,  extracts  from  the  manuscript  which  Darwin 
had  been  laboriously  preparing  as  the  result  of  his  experiments 
and  one  absorbing  thought  for  years.  After  that  period,  these 
two  men  stood  almost  side  hy  side  in  the  ensuing  contest,  diiFcr- 
ing  in  particulars,  but  in  complete  accord  as  to  generals. 

Darwin's  work,  ''  The  Descent  of  Man,"  following  that  en- 
titled "The  Origin  of  Species,"  appeared  first  in  1871.  He  said 
in  the  Introduction  : — 

The  conclusion  that  man  is  the  co-descendant  with  other  species  of  some 
ancient,  lower,  and  extinct  form  is  not  in  any  degree  new.  Lamarck  long  ago 
came  to  this  conclusion,  which  has  been  lately  maintained  by  several  eminent 
naturalists  and  philosophers ;  for  instance,  Wallace,  Huxley,  Lyell,  Vogt,  Lub- 
bock, Buchner, Rolle,  etc.,  and  especially  Hackel. 

He  himself  had  thought  so  j^ears  before,  long  before  his 
work,  "The  Origin  of  Species,"  had  appeared,  for  therein  is 
plainly  involved  that  what,  in  his  estimation,  applies  to  the 
lowest  animals,  must  apply  to  the  highest  one  of  all ;  and  besides, 
in  that  work,  "  The  Origin  of  Species,"  he  had  unequivocally 
directed  the  reader's  attention  to  this  inevitable  conclusion  from 
his  expressed  views  there  as  to  the  lower  animals  and  plants,  by 
remarking  that,  by  the  present  work,  "light  would  be  thrown  on 
the  origin  of  man  and  his  history." 


THE   REGULATIVE    LAW   OF   LIFE    AND   GROWTH.  35 

The  theory  of  evolution  was,  therefore,  not  first  cowr-ivcd 
by  Darwin,  he  himself  expressly  disclaiming  nr^  such  pretension. 

In  his  work,  "  The  Origin  of  Species,"  he  did  not  broach  the 
theory  of  evolution  except  as,  by  the  incidental  phrase  just 
quoted,  including  man.  It  was,  with  that  single  exception,  de- 
voted wholly  to  the  question  of  modification  by  descent  among 
the  lower  animals.  Impliedly,  however,  as  has  been  admitted,  it 
throughout  included  man,  and  in  the  passage  just  quoted  it  ex- 
pressly included  man.  But  it  was  not  until  his  much  later  work, 
"  The  Descent  of  Man,"  that  Darwin  devoted  himself  to  the  con- 
sideration of  man's  evolution,  all  the  wealth  of  illustration  therein 
contained  confessedly  centring  on  that  attempted  demonstration. 
It  only  remains  to  add  that,  throughout  his  works,  he  never 
indicates  that  man  is  derived  from  one  of  the  existing  types  of 
apes  or  monkeys.  On  the  contrar}',  he  expressl}T  denies  it,  as 
expressly  stating  that  he  believes  that  man  and  some  one  of  the 
present  existing  species  of  anthropoid  apes  are  linked  together 
b}r  a  remote  common  progenitor,  from  which  they  have  widely- 
diverged  in  traits. 

The  various  grosser  errors  of  statement  regarding:  Darwin's 
views  having  thus  been  corrected,  we  can  proceed  to  the  consid- 
eration of  the  lesser  ones,  gradually  approaching  and  finally 
reaching  a  clear  view  of  the  kernel  of  the  matter  as  to  what 
Darwin  really  believed  and  taught. 

In  point  Of  fact,  the  whole  tenor  of  "  The  Origin  of  Species  " 
and  "  The  Descent  of  Man  "  proves  that,  if  anything,  Darwin  was 
less  assertive  as  to  the  existence  of  the  law  of  evolution  than  as 
to  the  evidence  of  the  modes  by  which  evolution  could  be  effected 
through  certain  natural  processes.  Of  course  the  two  conten- 
tions must  needs  go  hand-in-hand,  but  what  is  meant  to  be 
indicated  is  what  has  been  acknowledged  by  himself,  that  he 
could  not  claim  priority  over  all  the  world  in  the  discovery,  or 
the  alleged  discovery,  if  the  reader  will,  of  the  law  of  evolution, 


36  HEREDITY.    HEALTH.    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

but  that  lie  could  claim  priority  in  the  perceptioB  of  proc- 
esses by  which  the  effect  is  rendered  possible.     Does  not  every 

one  know  what  a  barrier  to  investigation  of  the  unknown  is 
previous  conception  of  impossibility?  Given  that  processes 
were  shown  by  which  it  could  be  conceived  that  forms  might  be 
made  capable  of  divergence,  and  then  men  were  led  to  look  into 
the  evidence  as  to  the  degree  of  divergence,  assuming  for  the 
Grsl  time  that  sequence  and  degree  of  divergence  might  have, 
conjointly,  a  history  to  tell.  "Whereas,  if  some  plausible  method 
had  not  been  assigned  by  which  men  generally  could  conceive 
that  successive  modifications  had  taken  place,  they  might  have 
gone  on  till  doomsday  asserting  that  nature,  whether  living  or 
fossil,  had  no  mystery  of  life  to  tell  that  was  worth  the  unravel- 
ing. 

Darwin  chiefly  devoted  himself  to  the  establishment  of  the 
existence  of  an  agency  which  he  termed  "  natural  selection."  The 
consequence  of  the  operation  of  this  agency  was  described  b}r 
the  term  which  he  afterward  adopted  from  Herbert  Spencer, — 
"the  survival  of  the  fittest."  These  statements  of  the  action 
and  result  of  the  working  of  the  alleged  law  of  evolution  con- 
stitute the  points  of  departure  for  the  lesser  misinterpretation 
of  Darwin's  views  to  which  reference  has  been  made. 

Proceeding  now  on  this  higher  plane,  still  profoundly  in 
error,  it  is  first  of  all  to  be  remarked  that  the  popular  notion  as 
to  Darwin's  belief  is  that  natural  selection  works  principals- 
through  what  scientific  men  call  cataclysm, — that  is,  violent 
changes  in  exterior  nature, — instead  of  through  slow  processes 
of  change  in  exterior  nature.  That,  to  begin  with,  is  not  correct, 
as  representing  his  views.  He  makes  change  in  climate  a  factor 
in  his  supposed  agencies,  but  not  sudden  change,  even  if  we 
include  in  the  change  the  coming  on  of  the  glacial  period.  The 
principal  factors  by  which  he  accounts  for  divergence  among 
animals  are  :  Changes  in  continental  and  insular  areas,  produced 


THE   REGULATIVE   LAW   OF   LTFE   AND  GROWTH.    '  37 

by  the  slow  upheaval  and  subsidence  of  portions  of  the  earth,  with 
consequent  changes  in  climate;  pressure  of  animal  life,  through 
natural  increase,  upon  the  means  of  subsistence,  leading  in  the 
struggle  for  existence  to  many  consequences,  such  as  extirpation 
of  the  less  hardy  and  modification  of  the  offspring  in  the  remain- 
ing elite  ;  migration  to  new  regions,  involving  new  external  con- 
ditions and  the  indirect  contest  for  subsistence  with  other  species. 

But  Darwin,  in  accounting  for  change  in  species,  did  not 
rety  solely  upon  the  agencies  especially  designated  by  the  term 
"natural  selection,"  but  included  another  agenc}7  coming  within 
the  sphere  of  natural  selection,  but  distinguished  from  it  by  the 
term  "  sexual  selection."  The  agencies,  in  sum,  upon  which  he 
relied  as  competent  to  effect  change  in  species  are  natural  selec- 
tion (by  which  comes  change  of  structure  through  new  external 
conditions),  artificial  selection  (by  which  man  modifies  the  lower 
animals),  sexual  selection  (by  which  minor  attributes  are  ac- 
quired), compensation  of  growth  (by  which  vital  growth,  expend- 
ing itself  in  one  direction,  is  lessened  or  discontinued  in  another), 
reversion  to  primitive  details  of  structure  (through  what  is  now 
called  atavism),  protective  acquirement  of  similarit}"  (called,  for 
.brevitj-'s  sake,  mimicry),  and  food.  So,  it  will  be  observed  that 
Darwin  summoned  a  number  of  agencies,  agencies  within  the 
fullest  idea  of  natural  selection,  to  account  for  variability  of 
species. 

Continuing  to  rise  to  a  still  higher  plane  above  the  grossest 
of  the  errors  regarding  Darwin's  belief,  which  are  now  corrected, 
we  find  that,  among  even  educated  people,  the  term  "  survival 
of  the  fittest  "  is  often  misconstrued.  It  does  not,  as  larger- 
interpreted,  mean  the  survival  of  those  forms  which,  in  the 
estimation  of  any  one  or  a  number  of  persons,  have  an  inherent 
right,  morally  or  otherwise,  to  survive,  to  be  worthy  of  continued 
existence ;  but  simply  the  survival  of  those  which,  either  from 
constitution  or  from  plasticity  in  adapting  themselves  to  new 


3^  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AM)   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

conditions,  are  enabled,  under  those  conditions,  to  survive. 
The  expression,  "survival  of  the  fittest,"  in  a  word,  relates 
simply  to  ability,  in  the  general  environment,  of  the  individual 
to  survive.  If  an  arctic  rigor  were  to  cover  an  insular  expanse 
from  which  the  lower  animals  necessarily  could  not  escape,  and 
these  animals  had  been  habituated  to  a  warm  climate,  they  would 
undoubtedly  be  all  destroyed  by  cold.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  void  were  less  rigorous,  some  might  survive.  If,  instead 
of  the  place  being  an  island  it  were  on  the  main  land,  many 
would  die  during  migration,  but  very  many  also  would  survive. 
The  same  thing  would  apply  to  human  life  subjected  to  similar 
change,  although  in  that  case  men,  as  organized  by  civilization, 
would  not  sutler  as  would  insular  savages,  who  would  be  utterly 
swept  away.  The  loss  of  human  life  would  be  deplorable  before 
any  alleviation  could  occur,  but  large  bodies  of  the  inhabitants 
of  a  civilized  country,  whether  insular  or  not,  would  successfully 
migrate  to  other  regions.  It  is  easy  to  see  from  this  simple 
illustration  how  many  unworthy,  from  some  points  of  view,  of 
living  would  continue  to  survive,  while  many,  from  the  same 
points  of  view,  most  worthy  of  living  would  certainly  perish. 
Nor  does  the  law  cease  to  be  operative  with  the  physical  world. 
Daily  events  prove,  to  every  one  who  reads  and  sees  and  knows 
the  world,  that,  even  in  the  social  life  of  man,  given  certain 
deficiencies  of  character  and  training,  and  that  the  environment 
shall  suddenly  become  seductive  and  full  of  snares  and  pit-falls 
for  the  ignorant  and  unwary  of  danger,  and  the  majority  of 
mankind  go  down  and  are  swept  out  of  existence  as  by  a  fiery 
besom  of  destruction. 

Rising  still  one  more  step  to  consideration  of  the  least 
flagrant  of  the  errors  as  to  the  Darwinian  theory,  and,  therefore, 
to  the  last  to  be  noticed,  it  should  be  mentioned  that  evolution 
is  not,  as  is  often  believed,  intended  to  express  necessarily  an 
advance.     Understanding  that  it  ma^'  represent  a  retrogression 


THE   REGULATIVE   LAW   OF   LIFE   AND   GROWTH.  30 

in  particular  cases  is  necessary  to  a  full  comprehension  of  the 
meaning  of  the  expression,  "  the  survival  of  the  fittest."  The 
expression  implies,  in  the  first  place,  that  there  has  been  a 
change,  and,  in  the  second  place,  that  the  change  has  imposed 
stress  upon  the  forms  of  life  subjected  to  it.  This  being  so, 
how  is  the  idea  reconcilable  with  it,  that  evolution  always  means, 
in  every  case,  progression  to  a  higher  t}rpe?  The  supposed 
change  may,  in  a  given  area,  even  destroy  everything  except 
that  which  is  representative  of  an  inferior  t}7pe.  The  change, 
on  the  other  hand,  may  be  simply  unfavorable  to  one  or  more 
forms  of  life.  Cope  has  lately  shown,  through  comparison  of 
the  fossil  remains  of  certain  batrachians  (frogs)  with  living 
species,  that  the  ear  of  one  species  has,  instead  of  improving, 
retrograded  ;  in  conformity,  of  course,  with  the  later  conditions 
under  which  the  animal  has  lived. 

Change,  in  fine,  may  be  favorable  or  unfavorable,  and  there- 
fore there  may  or  may  not  be  progress  to  higher  types  of  organs 
or  of  beings.  The  meaning  of  the  term  "  survival  of  the  fittest  " 
does  not  teach  that  there  is  always  necessarily  progress  at  all 
times  and  places.  That  which  is  otherwise  taught  is  that,  regard- 
ing the  scheme  of  nature  as  a  whole,  the  progress  of  rise  in  tj'pe 
is  manifest  and  enormous.  It  teaches  that,  at  times,  there  has 
been  and  is  retrogression.  It  is  believed,  upon  good  evidence, 
that  there  are  now  savage  tribes  which  represent  people  which 
were  once  not  so  savage.  Some  of  the  great  peoples  who  once 
inhabited  portions  of  the  earth  have  left  in  those  same  regions 
degenerate  descendants.  If  we  are  not  to  believe  this,  contem- 
plate the  alternatives.  They  either  all  migrated  or  they  left  no 
offspring.     Which  is  the  most  likely  of  the  three  propositions  ? 

Having  now,  as  briefly  as  possible,  corrected  the  various 
prevalent  errors  regarding  Darwin's  theory,  first  by  statement 
of  what  it  is  not  and  then  by  definition  of  what  it  is,  it  natu- 
rally remains  to  add  some  of  the  evidence  upon  which  Darwin 


40  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

bases  his  conclusions.  The  merest  fragmentary  outline  must 
Buffice  for  this,  Beeing  that  lie  wrote  whole  hooks  on  the  subject  ; 
that,  as  he  was  am  able  man,  it  is  presumable  \tc  did  not  write 
more  than  was  needful ;  and,  finally,  that,  whether  he  did  or  not, 
we  cannot  take  the  benefit  of  his  whole  work.  But,  sketchy  as 
the  outline  must  necessarily  be,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  a  fiord  the 
reader  an  idea  of  the  cogency  of  the  evidence  by  which  he  sup- 
ports his  theory,  and  of  the  entire  relevancy  of  the  topic  to  the 
questions  of  health  and  beauty.  Health  and  beauty  are  both  in- 
volved in  the  law,  and  the  reader  will  perceive,  as  we  proceed, 
that  its  agenc}"  is  not  overstated  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter, 
where  it  was  designated  as  the  regulative  law  of  life  and  growth. 
Fo'r.  let  it  now  be  incidentally  remarked  that  nothing  which  we 
see  around  us  but  has  been  gradually  evolved,  the  inorganic  as 
well  as  the  organic  world.  Races,  nations,  societies,  individuals, 
however  rated  and  classed  at  any  period,  are  but  evolutionary 
products.  Even  man  in  his  present  most  highly  organized  aspect 
is  not  the  sole  arbiter  of  his  destiny.  All  present  social  con- 
ditions, including  government  itself,  have  risen  from  mere  tribal 
affiliations,  and  are  still  subject  to  the  fluctuation,  to  the  rise  or 
downfall,  which  the  previous  history  of  the  world  has  shown. 
The  destiny  of  every  living  creature  is,  at  every  instant  of  time, 
partly  within  and  partly  beyond  its  control. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  moral  world.  The  individual  in  a 
community  is  but  a  unit.  If  he,  in  any  degree,  molds  to  his 
wishes  the  community  in  which  he  lives,  much  more  it  has 
molded  and  continues  to  mold  and  control  him.  Could  he, 
morally  or  intellectual^,  rise  to  sublime  heights  above  the  com- 
munity, the  fact  would  be  beyond  appreciation.  Does  he,  either 
morally  or  intellectually,  descend  too  far  below  the  generally 
established  plane,  the  conduct  which  his  thought  shapes  makes 
society  intolerant  of  him.  Onl}'  upon  the  condition  that  he  shall 
not  rise  too  high  above  nor  fall  too  far  below  the  general  sphere 


THE    REGULATIVE   LAW   OF   LIFE   AND   GROWTH.  41 

of  sympathy  can  he  influence  or  be  influenced  by  his  fellows 
within  any  social  bounds.  And  thus  it  has  been  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  must  continue  to  be,  so  long  as  men  are  men,  having 
the  mental  and  moral  traits  by  which  we  know  them  now  as  be- 
longing to  mankind. 

Does  any  one  suppose  that  the  present  high  estate  to  which 
individual  men  and  women,  and  some  large  aggregates  of  them, 
have  risen  in  various  portions  of  the  earth  was  reached  at  a 
bound  ?  Within  historical  times  we  know  that  it  has  not  been 
so,  and  the  evidence  beyond  them,  exhumed  from  the  earth, 
proves  that  it  could  never  have  been  otherwise  in  prehistoric 
times,  through  all  geological  change,  since  man  first  became  a 
denizen  of  this  sphere.  A  savage  he  was,  and  a  savage  he  re- 
mains, in  many  respects,  yet ;  but  an  unmitigated  savage  he 
originally  was,  and  universally  was,  and  is  not  now.  All  that 
we  see  so  admirable  now  in  him  is  the  result  of  an  evolution, 
advancing,  retarded,  checked,  progressing,  passing  through  end- 
less vicissitudes,  until  we  find  him  now  touching,  in  some  races, 
upon  the  low  intelligence  and  aspect  of  the  brute,  and  elsewhere 
so  glorious  as  to  awaken  the  hope  that  his  final  earthly  develop- 
ment may  transcend  our  most  fervent  aspirations. 


CHAPTER  III. 
nature's  evidence  of  the  law  of  life  and  growth. 

THE  preamble  constituting  the  last  chapter  was  necessary, 
lest  the  reader  might  not  realize  the  intimate  relation 
which  the  law  of  development  bears  to  every  passing  incident 
of  life.  The  evidence  adduced  by  Darwin,  Wallace,  Spencer, 
and  many  others,  in  support  of  the  alleged  existence  of  the  law, 
resolves  itself  in  a  general  way  into  the  categories  of  former 
geological  change  and  the  comparison  of  living  with  extinct 
forms  of  life,  as  known  through  living  creatures  and  fossil 
remains.  This  chapter  will  be  especially  devoted  to  exhibiting 
some  of  the  evidence  upon  which  the  existence  of  the  alleged 
law  rests,  coupled  with  such  manifestly  implied  considerations 
as  to  the  importance  of  its  recognition  in  the  conduct  of  daily 
life  as  will  obviate  the  necessity  of  their  formal  presentation. 

All  the  varieties  of  what  we  call  fancjr-pigeons — carriers, 
tumblers,  pouters,  fan-tails,  turbits,  and  others — are  derived  from 
the  rock-pigeon,  which  is  blue  with  black-barred  wings.  This  has 
been  proved  by  breeding  those  pigeons  together  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  produce  partial  reversion  to  the  assumed  parent  stock. 

The  results  of  the  breeding  of  domesticated  animals  show 
that  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and  dogs  can  be  so  changed  within 
their  kind  as  to  be  hardly  recognizable  as  derived  from  the 
animals  which  formed  the  point  of  departure.  The  same  thing 
holds  good  of  plants.  The  effect  described  is  manifestly  accom- 
plished through  artificial  selection,  as  distinguished  from  natural 
selection,  but  this  throws  great  light  upon  the  question  of 
natural  selection.  Artificial  selection  itself  is  naturally  divided 
into  two  classes, — conscious  and  unconscious. 

The   selection   is   unconscious  when,  as   often   happens,  a 

(43) 


44  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

person,  not  a  breeder  of  animals  or  a  cultivator  of  plants,  effects  a 
change  Ity  selection  in  either,  without  any  remote  ulterior  object. 
Putting,  for  the  sake  of  simplicity,  plants  out  of  consideration, 
and  confining  ourselves,  as  heretofore,  to  animals,  the  case 
referred  to  is  illustrated  by  the  occasional  action  of  a  person 
breeding,  for  the  assumed  improvement  of  certain  qualities,  from 
a  pair  (if  individuals  which  happen  to  please  him  by  their  traits. 
The  selection,  on  the  contrary,  is  conscious  when,  as  with 
skilled  breeders,  generation  after  generation  of  animals  is  bred 
for  the  finest  points  of  physical  and  mental  traits,  representing 
generally  useful  qualities.  Speed  is  thus  developed  in  hordes, 
milk-giving  or  butter-making  qualities  in  cows,  hunting  qualities 
in  some  dogs,  size  and  ferocit}'  in  others,  speed  or  household 
qualities  in  others  ;  the  qualities  in  some  of  these  latter  being  not 
at  all  useful,  but  fanciful,  as  are  the  peculiarities  of  the  French 
poodle,  the  King  Charles  spaniel,  and  the  pug.  But,  whether 
the  quality  be  useful  or  useless,  it  is  pi-oved  that  any  amount  of 
divergence  is  seemingl}"  producible  from  the  parent  stock.  This 
pursuit,  even  during  an  ordinary  human  life,  suffices  to  produce 
wonderful  changes  in  domestic  animals.  When  breeders  thus, 
through  conscious  selection,  have  pursued  the  same  object, — that 
is,  definite  direction  toward  the  object  through  several  suc- 
cessive generations, — the  gradually-accumulated  differences  make 
at  last  in  the  animal  under  development  a  transfiguring  result. 
Imagine  what  could  be  produced  in  the  way  of  divergence  of 
animal  forms  if  men  had  the  power  and  will,  through  continu- 
ous living,  to  cany  on  their  conscious  selection  indefinitely. 
Imagine,  then,  the  effect,  if  nature  has  been  applying  through 
thousands  of  years,  millions,  peons,  a  rigid  selection,  through  a 
universal  law  of  growth,  life,  and  death,  imposed  by  the  Crea- 
tor. We  see  it  all  around  us,  in  our  own  persons,  and  in  the 
whole  outlying  world.  The  present  is  the  growth  of  the  past, 
linked  throuo;h  endless  series  to  the  creation. 


nature's  evidence  of  the  law  of  life  and  growth.     45 

When  a  genus,  the  last  bounds  within  which  classification 
places  species,  consists  of  veiy  many  species  and  varieties,  it  is 
found  that,  throughout,  the  likeness  between  many  forms  is 
very  close,  and,  moreover,  that,  grouped  around  special  forms, 
are  congeries  or  clusters  of  species  and  varieties,  more  closed- 
similar  to  each  other  than  are  to  each  other  the  species  gen- 
erally of  the  inclusive  genus.  This  is  a  very  striking  fact, 
awakening  suspicion  that  such  species,  constituting  the  genus, 
have  been  molded  through  similarity  and  dissimilarity  of  con- 
ditions found  in  an  extensive  range,  and,  further,  so  as  to  form 
under  continued  individual  similar  and  dissimilar  conditions, 
continuously  derived  varieties,  all  of  which  may  eventually  be- 
come true  species. 

Species  which  are  most  abundant  in  individuals,  and  at  the 
same  time  are  most  widely  diffused  in  a  single  country,  being 
there  what  may  be  properly  termed  the  dominant  species,  ex- 
hibit the  most  numerous  varieties.  This  phenomenon  points  in 
the  same  direction  as  that  which  has  just  been  noticed,  and, 
moreover,  confirms  its  ultimate  suggestion  to  the  mind.  That  is 
to  say,  if  variation  is  producible  and  produced  from  anj^  cause 
whatever,  we  cannot  say  that  the  same  cause  is  incapable  of 
producing  indefinite  change;  we  cannot  say  that  species  may 
not  be  produced  from  varieties,  and  that  the  final  product  in  the 
course  of  ages  may  not  be  quite  dissimilar  from  the  stock  from 
which  observation  has  been  supposed  to  begin.  Therefore,  if 
natural  selection  as  defined  can  produce  change,  it  is  impossible 
mentally  to  limit  the  amount  of  change. 

There  is  a  singular  and  surprising  relation  between  the  simi- 
larities and  dissimilarities  among  animals  found  on  continents 
and  on  the  neighboring  islands,  and  striking  relations  among 
animals  inhabiting  the  islands  themselves,  pointing  to  primary 
differentiation  as  between  the  continental  and  insular  forms  and 
secondary  differentiation  as  among  the  insular  forms. 


46  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

It  lias  boon  ascertained,  too,  that  in  Large  areas  which,  there 
is  reason  to  believe,  from  geological  evidence,  have  not  been  sub- 
jected to  invasion  of  new  forms  for  many  ages,  the  living  and 
fossil  forms  make  a  much  closer  series  than  the}'  do  in  those 
regions  which  geological  evidence  shows  to  have  been  open  for 
long  periods  to  the  invasion  of  species.  The  most  marked  ex- 
emplifications of  this  circumstance  are  exhibited  by  the  persist- 
ence in  Australia  of  the  marsupial  (pouched)  type  of  animal, 
such  as  the  kangaroo,  and  in  South  America  of  the  edentata 
(sloth)  type,  like  the  armadillo,  ant-eater,  and  others. 

The  stripes  of  the  zebra  are  sometimes  suggestively  indicated 
on  the  horse  and  the  ass.  Similarly,  spots  appear  and  disappear 
on  certain  adult  deer,  only  the  young  (the  fawn)  normally  exhibit- 
ing them  at  present.  These  are  believed  to  be  cases  of  partial 
reversion  to  primitive  characteristics,  the  common  progenitor  of 
the  zebra,  the  horse,  and  the  ass  being  supposed  to  have  been 
some  striped  animal,  and  that  of  the  deer  tribe  some  spotted 
and  otherwise  widely  different  animal  from  the  present  deer. 

There  is  a  whole  succession  of  animals  graduating  off  into 
each  other  in  functional  adaptation  of  the  e}-e,  as  the}'  graduate 
in  space  from  light  to  twilight  and  then  to  total  darkness,  the 
eye  becoming  of  less  and  less  efficiency  and  then  of  none  at  all, — 
in  structure,  only  the  rudiment  of  an  eye.  Is  it  to  be  supposed 
that  these  animals  were  separate  creations  for  separate  localities, 
each  having  been  endowed,  if  it  can  be  so  termed,  with  struc- 
tures which  sometimes  have  little  and  sometimes  no  relation  to 
use, — merely  to  suggest  an  idea  of  symmetry  and  system  in 
creation?  Is  it  not  rather  to  be  supposed  that  in  all  of  these 
creatures  the  shamness  of  seeing  could  not  be  the  result  of  special 
creation,  but  that  their  e3'es  once  exercised  more  function  than 
the  least  imperfect  of  them  now?  that,  in  the  course  of  time, 
loss  of  function,  through  changed  conditions  and  habits,  led  to 
partial  loss  of  structure?  and  that  the  present  structures,  which, 


nature's  evidence  of  the  law  op  life  and  growth.      47 

when  otherwise,  once  served  a  purpose,  might,  under  changed 
conditions,  serve  again  the  once  discontinued  purpose  ? 

The  blind  fish  of  the  Mammoth  Cave  of  Kentucky  are  the 
most  familiar  instance  of  the  rudimentary  condition  of  the  eye 
to  which  reference  has  just  been  made,  and  crabs  there  have  the 
foot-stalks  for  e3res,  without  the  eyes  themselves.  Rudimentary 
organs,  however,  extend  over  an  immense  range  among  living 
things.  Tbe  pouch  of  the  marsupial  is  really  the  first  form  by 
which  the  breast  of  land  mammals  is  foreshadowed.  In  the  case 
of  the  male  sex  among  mankind,  phj^siologists  are  agreed  that 
the  breast  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  rudimentary,  its  glands,  in 
certain  cases,  being  known  to  secrete  milk.  It  is  therefore  re- 
garded simply  as  an  organ  which  is  no  longer  normally  capable 
of  function.  Minute  anatomical  examination  of  the  body,  known 
as  histology,  shows  that,  even  in  so  remarkable  a  connection  as 
that  between  the  human  spine  and  brain,  there  is  a  demonstrable 
case  near  the  upper  vertebrae,  where  the  fibres  still  exist,  but  are 
functionless.  In  this  part,  therefore,  they  have  been  superseded 
by  other  special  adaptations,  and  in  the  course  of  ages  may  be- 
come more  and  more  rudimentary,  and  perhaps  finally  disappear. 

There  are  upland  geese  with  webbed  feet.  What  possible 
use  can  webbed  feet  now  be  to  these  geese  ?  Darwin  remarks  of 
the  frigate-bird,  or  man-of-war  hawk,  as  often  called  in  Florida, 
that  it  has  all  its  toes  webbed,  and  that  no  one  but  Audubon 
ever  saw  it  alight  on  the  surface  of  the  ocean.  We  can  person- 
ally confirm  this  statement,  having  watched  the  beautiful  float- 
ing of  thousands  of  these  birds  in  their  solitary  flight  through 
the  air,  soaring  in  concentric  circles  on  apparentl}-  motionless 
pinions.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  any  bird  which  obtains  food 
from  the  water  to  flutter  immediately  over  the  surface,  seizing 
what  it  can  peck  up  or  grasp ;  and  this  produces  the  effect 
which,  doubtless,  Audubon  perceived  when  he  suspected  that  the 
webbed  feet  of  the  frigate-bird  aided  it  to  support  itself  upon 


48  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

flie  water.  The  bird  is  so  extremely  shy,  and  keeps  at  such  a 
distance  from  man,  that,  even  with  a  telescope,  it  would  be 
impossible  for  any  one  to  say  that  it  uses  its  webbed  l'eet  as 
support  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  Their  inefficiency  for  that 
purpose  is  of  itself  presumption  against  their  existence  and  use 
for  any  such  purpose.  Observation  of  what  happens  in  the  case 
of  other  sea-birds,  and,  indeed,  for  that  matter,  in  the  case  of 
fresh-water  birds,  confirms  this  presumption,  and  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  webbed  feet  of  the  frigate-bird,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  upland  goose,  represent  structure  which  had  been 
useful  in  now  discontinued  habits  of  life. 

The  causes  which  ma}-  determine  the  greater  or  less  persist- 
ence of  a  form,  its  extinction  or  its  modification  through  migra- 
tion and  changed  climate,  food, and  habits,  are  sometimes  of  a  kind 
beyond  the  knowledge  of  the  ordinary  dweller  on  the  earth.  The 
pest  of  the  tstse-fly,  in  the  southern  part  of  Africa,  is  so  great, 
so  virulent  are  their  attacks  upon  cattle,  that  to  save  those 
animals  from  certain  death  it  has  been  from  time  immemorial 
necessary  to  cauterize  the  tail.  The  ch-culation  near  the  end  of 
the  tail  being  weak,  and  the  vitality  of  the  part  there  being  in 
consequence  low,  the  venomous  attack  of  the  fly  which  takes 
place  there  leads  to  rapid  sloughing  of  the  tail  and  the  death  of  the 
animal.  The  animals  which  are  saved  by  the  process  mentioned 
inc.  of  course,  domestic  animals,  and  therefore  have  no  power  of 
migration  independent  of  their  masters.  Imagine,  however,  what 
might  readily  take  place  if  tliej*  were  in  a  wild  state,  how  many 
would  be  destroyed,  and  how  many  would  remain  if  nature  had 
not.  as  it  has  not,  placed  impassable  barriers  to  their  going. 

What  kind  of  a  country  must  that  be  where  the  termites,  or 
white  ants,  make  occasional  inroads,  swarming  over  the  whole 
of  the  ground,  entering  every  hut  and  house,  and  devouring 
everything  before  them,  even  down  to  paper?  Certainly  the 
conditions  of  existence  there  are  something  frightfully  unlike 


nature's  evidence  of  the  law  of  life  and  growth.      49 

what  most  human  beings  are  acquainted  with,  and  involve 
manifold  untold  changes  besides  that  exhibited  in  the  visible, 
swarming  ant-life  of  that  region. 

What  ordinary  observer  would  have  supposed  that  so  appar- 
ently simple  a  matter  as  the  introduction  of  the  English  sparrow 
into  Philadelphia  would  affect  any  other  animal  life?  Yet  Dr. 
Le  Conte,  the  entomologist,  who,  living  in  Philadelphia,  had 
ample  opportunity  of  observing,  said  that  before  it  had  been 
here  very  long  it  had  so  suppressed  the  particular  worm  for 
whose  destruction  it  had  been  imported,  that  a  certain  hairy 
worm,  which  had  before  been  scarcely  noticed,  and  which  the 
sparrow  would  not  touch,  had  multiplied  inordinately. 

Whether  wild, or  domestic,  we  find  that  there  are  individuals 
among  all  animals  which  have,  be3'ond  others,  the  capacity  of 
resisting  hardship.  This  capacity  being  often  mysteriously 
associated  with  color,  it  comes  about,  from  the  death  of  the  less 
hardy,  that  the  preferred  color  is  that  which,  as  represented  by 
a  beast,  is  the  only  one  left  to  propagate  its  kind.  Thus  even 
color  can  come  to  be  associated  with  constitution,  and  remain 
fixed,  as  representing  the  constitution  best  fitted  in  an  individual 
animal  for  conditions  under  which  it  has  been  evolved.  Color 
is  also  markedly  associated  with  the  kind  of  protection  which 
obscurity  confers.  Observe  how  protective  are  the  colors  of 
fishes  which,  through  weakness,  need  protection.  The  flounder 
is  white  on  one  side,  it  is  true,  but  observe  that  that  is  the  side 
which  is  toward  the  bottom.  When  fishing  along  various  conti- 
nental coasts  one  cannot  help  being  struck  with  this  phenomenon. 
Observe  the  colors  of  the  hare,  the  grouse,  the  partridge,  and  of 
many  other  game  animals.  Even  in  form  there  is  often  so  close  a 
mimicry  by  animals  of  inanimate  nature  as  to  require  the  closest 
scrutiny  to  distinguish  between  the  living  and  the  not  living. 
The  well-known  leaf-insect  so  closely  simulates  the  leaves  on 
which  it  rests  in  feeding  that  the  nearest  inspection  is  required 


50  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

to  distinguish  it  from  them.  But  there  is  also  animal  mimicry 
of  animate  objects.  There  are  certain  species  of  butterflies 
which  have  imitators  so  close  as  to  require  much  effort  in  the 
open  air  to  distinguish  one  from  another.  It  has  been  dis- 
covered that  the  mimicked  kind  enjoy  certain  immunities  from 
danger  and  destruction,  in  which  the  mimickers  participate. 
Thus,  natural  selection  finding  the  two  originally  alike  in  their 
individuals,  the  likeness  intensified  through  the  destruction  of 
those  of  the  mimicking  species  which  were  the  least  conformable 
to  the  standard  of  the  protected  kind,  and  thus  those  which  are 
left  to  propagate  their  kind  always  tend  to  approach  nearer  and 
nearer  to  that  standard. 

Color  is  associated  even  with  traits  of  character.  The  white 
horse  is  invariably  mild  in  disposition,  the  black  horse  fier}\ 
Gray  in  horses  seems  to  be  associated  with  strength.  Color  is 
associated  and  identified  with  sex,  of  which  the  most  familiar 
instance  is  the  color  of  the  tortoise-shell  cat,  which  is  almost 
invariably  female,  while  the  corresponding  male  is  as  invariably 
of  a  dull  brick  color. 

Not  a  hundredth  part  of  the  phenomena  which  form  the 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  law  of  development  has  been 
given,  or  would  be  appropriately  introduced  here  ;  but  surely 
enough  has  been  said  to  warrant  the  assertion  that,  be  it  much 
or  little,  enough  has  been  adduced  to  establish  the  claim  to  a 
good  standing  in  court  for  the  probable  existence  of  the  law. 

Sexual  selection,  which,  as  has  been  intimated,  is  really 
within  the  general  sphere  of  natural  selection,  although  it  is  dis- 
tinguished by  a  different  name,  is  effective  through  the  interac- 
tion of  the  two  sexes  among  all  those  animals,  including  man, 
where  individual  preference  •  is  exercised.  It  is  perfectly  well 
established,  that  even  among  some  of  the  lower  animals,  notably 
among  birds,  the  sexual  instinct  is  not  exhibited  save  in  conjunc- 
tion with  individual  preferences.     It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say 


nature's  evidence  of  the  law  of  life  and  growth.      51 

that,  among  mankind,  individual  preferences  are  the  most  mani- 
fest of  the  impulses  which  draw  one  sex  toward  the  other.  But 
we  will  reserve  for  a  future  chapter  the  discussion  of  the  rela- 
tions of  the  sexes  among  mankind  in  the  highest  affection,  known 
as  love,  and  confine  ourselves  here  to  the  effect  of  the  action  of 
sexual  selection  among  the  lower  animals. 

Just  as  in  the  spring-time  the  young  man's  thoughts,  and  for 
that  matter  the  young  woman's,  turn  lightly  to  thoughts  of  love, 
so  among  all  the  lower  animals  there  are  joyousness,  assemblies, 
the  movements  of  courtship,  rivalry,  and  strife  ;  all  growing  out 
of  the  indefinable  attraction  of  sex  to  sex.  It  is  the  awakening 
time  of  all  nature,  of  plant  as  well  as  of  animal,  when  the  re- 
turning sun  stirs  the  pulse  of  all  life,  and  being,  in  renewing 
itself,  rejoices. 

Fear  has  been  called  the  strongest  of  the  passions,  but  surely 
that  view,  even  if  we  accept  as  part  evidence  the  ancient  super- 
stitious sacrifice  of  human  life,  is  not  tenable  in  face  of  the  fact 
that  love  conquers  fear.  Love,  we  may  safety  say,  is  the  most 
potent  and  widely  diffused  of  all  the  passions ;  so  potent  that  it 
even  holds  within  its  chalice  all  the  rest.  It  holds  not  only  what 
is  most  beautiful,  but  jealousy,  envy,  hatred,  cruelty,  all  that  is 
most  malignant.  It  is,  therefore,  the  master-passion,  which, 
working  mainly  for  good,  yet  holds  potentially  such  evil  as  may 
assume  the  guise  of  either  angel  or  devil.  Among  the  lower 
animals,  to  some,  but,  to  only  a  slight  degree  constrained  by 
morality,  the  baser  impulses  which  love  has  the  power  to  origi- 
nate find  free  vent.  Stags  and  most  other  horned  animals  gore 
and  trample  each  other  ruthlessly  to  death.  Game-birds  fight 
and  pierce  and  lacerate  each  other  with  the  most  savage  satis- 
faction. We  have  watched  an  alligator,  fresh  from  a  desperate 
conflict  for  some  most  unlovely  loved  one,  with  part  of  its  upper 
jaw  and  a  foot  or  more  of  its  tail  gone,  and  both  fore-legs  broken 
at  the  shoulder,   so   nearly   spent   that  it  had  barely  enough 


59        HEREDITY,  HEALTH,  AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

strength  left  to  push  itself  slowly  forward  for  a  few  feet  with 
its  hind  legs  and  slump  into  the  water.  Darwin,  after  giving 
an  interesting  account  of  the  combats  of  many  species  of  ani- 
mals, remarks  that  he  is  not  aware  whether  crustaceans  fight. 
We  could  have  told  him  that  duels  among  crabs  are  common  in 
the  spring-time,  and  that,  when  the  animals  are  fighting,  they 
are  so  much  absorbed  that  then  is  the  easiest  time  to  catch  them. 

But  here  let  us  quit  this  line  of  description.  It  was  entered 
upon  solely  for  the  purpose  of  correcting1  a  very  common  belief 
that  the  loves  of  most  of  the  lower  animals  do  not  awaken  evil 
passions,  and  briefly  to  indicate  that,  for  the  most  part,  their 
courtship  includes  within  its  gamut  the  enormous  range  between 
every  art  to  please  and  death-dealing  fury. 

It  is,  with  few  exceptions,  the  law  throughout  nature  that 
the  male  shall  take  the  active  part  in  courtship.  It  is  not,  there- 
fore, to  be  inferred,  as  it  often  is,  that  the  female  does  not  take 
an  equal  share.  To  think  this  is  no  more  rational  than  to  sup- 
pose that  the  positive  pole  of  a  galvanic  battery  could,  without 
association  with  the  negative  one,  transmit  an  electric  current. 
The  simple  truth  is,  as  stated,  that  the  male  almost  universally 
takes  the  active  part  in  courtship.  The  reason  of  this  may  lie 
down  deep  in  physiological  differences  between  the  sexes,  leading 
the  male  to  greater  impulsiveness  and  the  female  to  relative  pas- 
sivity. But  we  cannot  reach  the  cause:  the  fact,  however,  is 
indisputable.  This  being  settled,  we  find  that  fact  to  be  a  point 
of  departure  for  the  demonstration  of  the  effects  of  sexual  selec- 
tion among  some  of  the  lower  animals. 

In  the  lower  animal  life  we  observe,  of  course,  types  which, 
from  their  slight  development  of  intelligence,  seem  to  show  no 
individual  preferences  whatever:  an}'  male  is  a  male,  and  any 
female  a  female,  equalby  delectable.  But  when  we  rise  in  the 
scale  among  animals  to  higher  grades  of  intelligence,  we  find 
manifestation  of  preference  in  many  ways  similar  to  that  of 


nature's  evidence  of  the  law  of  life  and  growth.     53 

human  beings.  We  find  among  birds,  for  instance,  the  most 
marked  evidence  of  preference  for  certain  individuals  of  the 
opposite  sex.  Pigeons  afford  an  excellent  opportunity  for  ob- 
servation of  this  sentiment,  for  they  are  singularly  faithful  to 
their  loves.  Yet,  faithful  as  they  are  in  that  respect,  the  exist- 
ence of  preference  among  them  is  at  times  additionally  exhibited 
in  the  case  of  what  is  known  among  fanciers  as  a  "  coaxer,"  or 
"  gay  bird,"  a  sort  of  rake  of  a  pigeon,  which  is  sometimes  able 
to  seduce  another  bird  from  its  allegiance  to  its  mate. 

Birds  in  their  wild  state  can  be  and  are  watched  from  places 
of  concealment  by  naturalists,  and  their  whole  love-making  can 
be  and  often  is  recorded.  The  commonest  observation  shows  how 
productive  courtship  and  rivalry  are  of  music  among  songsters. 
It  seems  idle  to  argue  that  the  birds  must  be  pleased  with  song. 
If  they  were  not,  they  would  not  sing.  It  seems  self-evident, 
and  observation  confirms  the  view,  that  songsters  must  be  pleased 
with  song, — both  singers  and  listeners.  The  singer,  when  caged 
and  entirely  by  himself,  often  prolongs  indefinitely  what  seems 
to  human  ears  a  joj^ous  melody.  Why,  then,  is  it  not  certain 
that  to  his  ears  it  must  be  a  pleasure,  and,  if  so,  to  one  of  the 
opposite  sex  that  he  may  wish  to  mate  ?  In  the  wilds  he  seems 
to  sing  not  onby  to  excel  a  rival,  but  to  please  his  female  choice. 
AH  three  must  be  critical  in  musical  performance,  else  there 
could  be  no  rivalry  through  competition,  and  no  love  elicited 
through  the  most  unwavering  song.  That  the  suitor  and  rival, 
or  rivals,  should  make  so  much  exertion  as  singing  involves, 
without  any  object  to  be  obtained,  is  incredible. 

The  meeting-places  of  birds  are,  naturally,  as  various  as 
their  habits.  Among  songsters,  the  grove  is  vocal  with  their 
melody,  and  the}*-  fly  from  spray  to  spray  in  delighted  vagaries 
of  wooing.  Among  certain  birds  of  another  kind,  which  may 
be  generalized  under  the  designation  of  game-birds,  and  which 
resort  to  the  ground  for  locomotion  more  than  to  the  air,  many 


54  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

Bpecies  are  ootable  For  beautiful  plumage  and  dangerous  weapons. 
Now,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that,  as,  with  rare  exceptions,  a  bird, 
however  game,  is  not  called  upon  to  use  its  weapons  against 
other  Bpecies,  the  swoop  of  a  hawk  or  other  enemy  giving  it 
tin-  opportunity  of  using  them  only  in  the  rare  case  where  the 
attacker  lias  become  entangled  with  another  quarry,  it  is  evident 
that  the  purpose  of  the  weapons  of  the  male  is  for  service  against 
individuals  of  his  own  species,  and,  moreover,  that  these  indi- 
viduals are  always  males. 

When,  then,  birds  of  these  species  gather  together  in  the 
open  spaces  where  they  love  to  congregate  for  the  holding  of 
their  love-feasts,  and,  by  cries,  struttings,  and  antics  of  all  sorts, 
display  themselves  before  the  assembled  females,  "  peacocking 
it.  "  as  the  French  could  say  by  the  word  pawner;  when  san- 
guinary combats,  injury,  and  sometimes  death  ensue  therefrom, 
it  is  not  to  be  denied,  when  we  find  that  it  is  only  the  females 
which  can  excite  to  such  manifestations,  that  the  females  are,  in 
their  passive  way,  parties  to  and  in  equal  degree  responsible  for 
the  consequences.  If  the  ordinary  prize-fight  were  concerned, 
they  would  all  be  liable  to  arrest  as  aiders  and  abettors  of  the 
fight.  The  motives  which  prompt  these  contests  are  therefore 
just  those  which  every  human  heart  recognizes  as  perfectby  com- 
prehensible. They  are  fundamentally  human  as  to  inspiration, 
having  the  closest  relation  to  conflicting  choice  and  mating.  The 
allurements  are  personal  ornament  and  a  sort  of  swashbuckler 
gallantry.  That  color  is  both  liked  and  disliked  by  animals  the 
simplest  experiments  prove.  We  have  ourselves  been  unpleas- 
antly near  a  bull's  demonstration  on  a  red  flag,  and  we  imagine 
that  there  are  few  who  do  not  know  that  the  ordinary  frog  seems 
to  love  a  red  rag  as  much  as  the  bull  seems  to  hate  it. 

Some  of  the  lower  animals,  then,  through  displaying  their 
charms  to  the  best  advantage,  evidently  compete  with  each  other 
for  the  affection  of  individuals  of  their  kind  of  the  opposite  sex. 


nature's  evidence  of  the  law  of  life  and  growth.      55 

This  indicates,  not  only  on  the  part  of  the  males,  but  also  on 
that  of  the  females,  the  perception  of  relative  desirability  in 
individuals,  both  male  and  female.  Relative  admiration,  of 
course,  implies  relative  desirability.  If  there  were  no  relative 
admiration  there  could  be  no  relative  desirability  perceived,  and 
then  there  would  be  no  fighting.  Not  even  birds  fight  for  what 
they  do  not  desire.  And,  throughout  the  scenes  which  have  been 
described,  perception  of  relative  beauty,  or,  at  least,  belief  in  it, 
based  on  generally  agreeable  attributes,  is  the  fundamental  cause 
of  the  contention.  If,  then,  beauty  and  gallant  ways  and 
knightly  strength  and  skill  are  recognized  by  these  animals,  and 
recognized  in  the  manner  and  with  the  immediate  results  de- 
scribed, that  is  only  to  say  that  they  are  proved  to  be  rational 
(if  our  own  human  ways  are  rational)  bases  for  choice  and  mat- 
ing. Relative  admiration,  in  all  its  phases,  is  clearly  implied  by 
action  exactly  like  what  should  be  comprehensible  to  higher 
beings  possessing  similar,  if  more  exalted,  sentiment.  The  per- 
sonality of  the  suitor  is  presented,  according  to  his  knowledge, 
in  the  most  favorable  light  for  his  acceptance,  and  that  he  is 
relatively  acceptable  upon  the  grounds  upon  which  he  counted 
on  being  pleasing  is  proved  by  the  event.  So,  whether  a  bird 
sings,  or  does  not  sing,  or  is  a  thing  of  beauty  and  a  fierce 
fighter,  it  is  pleased  in  the  same  way,  if  not  in  the  same  degree 
or  with  the  same  nice  discrimination,  as  human  beings  are  with 
form,  color,  music,  and  gallantry  in  fight  and  wooing. 

It-  is  from  this  source  that  the  effects  of  sexual  selection 
flow.  The  action  of  certain  birds  in  wooing  was  chosen  as  the 
best  means  of  demonstrating  that  in  nature  gradual  change  must 
flow  from  it,  because  birds,  of  all  the  lower  creatures,  afford  the 
greatest  facilities  for  observation  of  sexual  habit,  are  those 
which  have  consequently  been  the  most  closely  observed,  and  at 
the  same  time  are  those  which  are  the  most  highly  gifted  in  the 
directions  that  render  changes  in  them  readily  comprehensible. 


56  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

But,  wherever  among  animals  individual  preference  is  exercised 
in  the  relations  of  the  sexes,  similar  consequences  to  those  which 

we  arc  now  about  to  examine  must  ensue. 

Birds  are  attracted  not  only  by  the  beauty  of  color,  but  by 
tiie  ruffling  of  feathers,  strutting,  dancing,  and  antics  of  the 
male,  as  any  one  can  testify  who  has  ever  observed  them  in  the 
state  of  nature.  Remembering  that  among  birds  it  is  the  female 
which,  however  much  the  male  expresses  preference,  generally 
exercises  final  choice,  guided  by  certain  physical  traits,  such  as 
swelling  display  of  form  and  color,  and  by  admiration  of  superi- 
ority in  the  moral  traits  of  courage  and  prowess,  that  it  is  the 
female  which  makes  final  decision  in  favor  of  an  individual  male, 
it  follows  inevitably  from  the  coincident  fact  that  these  males 
which  are  favored  being  those  which  are  generally  the  most 
adorned  and  the  best  armed  (else  the}'  could  not  be  beyond 
others  successful),  must  leave  the  greatest  number  of  offspring 
of  their  sex  as  the  best  appointed  descendants  of  the  species. 
The  general  tendenc}',  therefore,  is  for  the  males  of  certain 
species  of  birds  to  become  more  and  more  beautiful,  and  better 
and  better  armed,  and  so  the  weapons  and  the  plumage  of  a 
species  become  indefinitel}'  improved  and  beautified. 

The  gay  colors  and  gallant  ways  of  the  barn-yard  cock  have 
attraction  for  the  hen,  as  any  one  may  observe  if  he  will  but 
look.  Domestication  does  not  cause  either  of  them  to  lose  the 
impulses  derived  from  nature.  In  the  barn-yard  it  is  observable 
that  the  young  cock  comes  sneaking  around  to  gain  possession, 
and  sometimes  does  gain  possession,  of  a  hen,  to  be  relinquished 
hastily  with  an  affrighted  squawk  as  the  cock  of  the  walk  appears, 
and  the  other  takes  to  flight.  So  also  in  the  state  of  nature  we 
ma}'  observe,  among  the  gallinaceous  fowls,  the  fierce  old  cocks 
battling  in  the  arena  for  possession  of  a  greater  or  lesser  number 
of  the  attendant  hens,  while  some  young  cocks,  unable  to  try 
conclusions  with  the  others,  happen  to  please  hens  and  elope  in 


nature's  evidence  of  the  law  of  LIFE  AND  GROWTH.      -)1 

a  barn-yard,  or  indeed,  human  fashion,  leaving  the  old  fellows 
to  fight  it  out  for  some  of  the  prizes  that  have  gone.  This  is 
one  way  in  which  the  female  exercises  choice.  In  another  slie 
has  Hobson's  choice,  none  at  all,  and  becomes  the  captive  of  the 
spear  and  bow  of  some  supremely  redoubtable  master.  In 
another,  however,  in  a  far  greater  degree  than  the  first,  she 
exercises  choice  among  the  victors.  It  is  evident  that  choice 
she  has,  and  choice  she  exercises ;  whereas,  in  the  gallinaceous 
tribe,  what  the  cock  chiefty  battles  for  is  no  choice  at  all,  but  the 
possession  of  as  many  hens  as  possible. 

There  are  a  few  instances  of  the  converse  case,  con- 
firming the  statement  made  as  to  the  effect  of  the  exercise 
of  final  choice.  There  are  a  few  species  of  birds  where  the 
female,  and  not  the  male,  is  the  active  part}'  to  the  courtship, 
and  the  effect  just  described  is  then  reversed.  It  is  then  the 
female,  and  not  the  male,  which  is  distinctively  armed  and 
adorned,  and  which  does  the  fighting  and  directs  the  familj*. 
Whether  or  not  this  is  a  normal  condition,  resulting  from  the 
fact  that  the  species  is  deficient  in  number  of  males,  is  not  known. 
The  fact,  however,  whatever  the  cause  of  it,  serves  equalh'  well 
to  illustrate  the  concomitant  effect  of  a  reversal  of  the  ordinary 
course  of  nature,  that  is,  the  sex  of  the  party  to  the  nuptial 
contract,  represented  by  the  individual  chosen  for  exceptional 
attributes,  is  that  sex  through  which  comes  to  the  progenj"  of 
the  same  sex  development  of  its  characteristics.  When  the  cock 
is  the  defender  of  the  family  he  wears  the  weapons  and  the 
uniform  of  war.  When  the  roles  are  reversed  it  is  the  hen  which 
wears  the  insignia  of  rank.  The  same  thing  is  observable 
among  the  women  who  are  called  strong-minded. 

It  will  at  this  point  doubtless  be  inquired  \>y  some  reader 
not  conversant  with  the  working  of  the  laws  of  heredit}-,  how  it 
happens  that  to  the  progeny  should  not  eventuall}'  be  trans- 
mitted equally,  as  between  the  two  sexes,  the  attributes  which 


58  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

are  acquired  through  the  maternal  choice;  why  the}-  should  be 
confined  only  to  the  male  sex?  If  the  reader  can  ask  such  a 
question,  perhaps  he  will  answer,  first,  why  it  is  only  the  male 
which  originally  possessed  the  attributes  which  are  alleged  to  be 
susceptible,  through  sexual  selection,  of  modification  in  the  male 
sex.  If  the  male  be  chosen  for  certain  characteristics  by  the 
female,  the  characteristics  for  which  he  was  chosen  are  neces- 
sarily male  characteristics,  and,  therefore,  are  necessarily  con- 
tinued in  the  line  of  descent  to  the  male  progeny.  But,  to  a 
certain  degree,  those  attributes  are  transmitted  to  the  female 
sex  ;  not,  however,  as  distinctively  as  to  the  male. 

If  certain  physical  attributes,  such  as  weapons,  are  acquired 
in  high  degree  by  the  male  sex  of  a  species  of  birds,  they  will  be 
transmitted  in  some  degree  to  the  other  sex,  for  the  spur,  for  in- 
stance, regarded  simply  as  such,  is  not  confined  to  the  male  bird. 
Even  the  spur  of  the  ordinary  barn-yard  hen  is  sometimes  quite 
well  developed.  But  it  is  only  exceptional^  as  well  developed  in 
the  hen  as  in  the  cock.  The  hen  requires  spurs  for  the  defense 
of  her  young.  The  difference  between  the  action  of  the  two  sexes 
is  that  the  cock  tends  to  use  his  spurs  for  aggression,  but  the 
hen  hers  for  defense.  When,  however,  as  has  been  noted,  certain 
structures  which,  as  the  general  rule,  especially  characterize  the 
male,  are  possessed  by  the  female,  corresponding  physical  and 
moral  attributes  are  also  possessed  by  her.  Although,  for  the 
sake  of  brevity,  the  rare  case  of  reversion  of  the  ordinary  rule 
as  to  the  relations  of  the  sexes  has  been  noticed  only  as  happen- 
ing in  the  case  of  birds,  yet  there  are  known  cases  of  reversion 
of  a  similar  kind  among  some  few  other  animals. 

Nature  ignores  that  which  is  useless  to  an  animal  in  propor- 
tion as  it  comes  to  be  more  and  more  useless,  and  more  and 
more  augments  that  which  is  useful  as  it  comes  to  be  more  and 
more  useful.  Structure  can  increase  more  or  less  in  function. 
If  structure  is  impaired,  loss  of  function  diminishes  with  it.    If 


nature's  evidence  of  the  law  of  life  and  growth.      59 

function  decreases,  structure  proportionally  declines.  Structure 
may  suffer  entire  loss  of  function.  Diminution  of  function  may 
lead  to  atrophy  of  structure.  Long  cessation  of  function  ren- 
ders once  active  organs  rudimentary.  Renewal  of  old  function, 
or  creation  of  new,  means  growth  of  structure.  Traits  which 
are  distinctively  male  and  female  continue  to  be  maintained 
through  differentiation  chiefly  within  the  lines  recognized  as 
respectively  male  and  female.  Nature  having  declared  through 
her  works  that  all  development  shall  relate  solely  to  the  welfare 
of  the  individual,  through  the  relation  of  structure  to  environ- 
ment, and  increasing,  diminishing,  or  withdrawing  structure  as 
needs  declare  that  it  is  more  or  less  fitted  for  the  conditions  of 
life,  sexual  selection,  potent  as  it  is,  is  thereby  still  subject  to  the 
inclusive  law  of  natural  selection.  That  which  is  useful  or  use- 
less, including  the  ornamental  within  sexual  lines,  finds  no  escape 
from  the  universal  law  that,  under  any  and  all  conditions,  only 
the  fittest  of  everything  for  the  benefit  of  the  individual  shall 
survive. 

The  geological  record  is  confessedly  imperfect.  That  is  to 
say,  that  the  archives  of  the  past  history  of  the  earth,  folded 
awray  amid  the  strata  of  by-gone  geological  periods,  do  not  pre- 
sent such  perfect  sequence  in  the  account  of  life  as  the  theory 
of  development  would  desire.  How  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  Some 
remains  are  too  perishable  to  last  long  under  the  most  favorable 
conditions  ;  fire  has  carried  on  a  work  of  destruction,  and  the 
upheaval  and  sinking  of  areas  of  continental  size  have  been 
concerned  in  their  manifold  disappearance.  The  delving,  too, 
of  man  is  necessarily  extremely  limited  in  its  efficienc}^ ;  and  so, 
while  millions  of  records  remain  beyond  his  power  to  reach  them, 
others,  possible  to  reach,  must  forever  elude  knowledge  of  their 
existence.  Whole  groups  of  intermediate  forms  are  lacking  to 
series  in  the  ordinary  development  of  life,  and  other  series  seem 
to  have  arisen  spontaneously  and  left  through  their  remains 


60  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

record- of  their  existence  in  some  places.  Yet,  when  we  come 
to  consider  all  the  destructive  and  concealing  agencies  ooncerned, 

migration  accounting  for  the  sudden  appearance  of  a  certain 
form,  to  the  exclusion  of  one  which  might  have  been  expected  ; 
the  presence  in  other  places  of  a  close  sequence  of  allied  forms  ; 
the  fact  that,  yearly,  the  differences  between  forms  that  were 
once  thought  to  be  wide  asunder  is  bridged  over  by  some  new 
discovery  ;  the  inevitable  conclusions,  for  instance,  from  such  a 
case  as  that  of  discovery  of  the  progenitor  of  the  horse,  showing 
that  that  animal  originally  possessed  toes  ;  we  may  truly  say 
that  the  record,  although  imperfect,  through  being  fragmentary, 
has  left  pages  of  such  conclusiveness  as  to  indicate  the  tenor  of 
those  which  have  been  lost. 

When,  further,  we  come  to  the  study  of  embryology,  with 
the  aid  of  the  wonderfully  perfected  microscope  of  modern 
times,  and  find  that  the  embryo  is  a  brief  abstract  and  chronicle 
in  time  of  the  history  of  the  type  of  beings  which  it  represents, 
indicating  its  development  in  accordance  with  suggestions  other- 
wise derived,  the  conclusion  as  to  these  being  the  processes  of 
nature  becomes  more  and  more  confirmed.  Doubtless  there  is  a 
limit  beyond  which  human  investigation  cannot  proceed,  even 
with  the  aid  of  the  microscope  ;  the  theoretical  limit  of  the  in- 
strument is  perfectly  well  known,  and  does  not  pretend  to  reach 
infinitude. 

How  much  or  how  little  the  Creator  ma}'  permit  man  to 
know,  it  is  rash  for  man  to  decide.  It  is  certainly  permissible 
for  him  to  know  all  that  his  faculties  render  him  capable  of  un- 
derstanding. To  deny  this  proposition  would  involve  the  con- 
tention that  man  had  been  given  understanding  for  less  than  its 
fullest  use.  The  agnostic  who  speaks  of  God  as  the  absolutely 
Unknowable  is  as  arrogant  as  he  who  could  think  of  Him  as  the 
absolutely  Knowable.  Incomprehensible  God  must  needs  be, 
else  he  were  not  the  Creator;  but  knowable  He  is,  in  a  certain 


nature's  evidence  of  the  law  of  life  and  growth.      CI 

degree,  to  every  creature  in  whom  lie  inspires  the  expanding 
moral  sense,  and  who  bows  down  before  Him  through  his  works, 
His  creation  by  one  supreme  law,  through  whatever  source 
mediate^  derived.  True  science  sees  in  nature  one  continuous 
miracle.  Unscience  looks  for  interminable  special  miracles,  as 
from  the  magician's  wand.  Knowing  little  of  the  general 
physical  laws  of  nature,  it  is  ever  ready  to  believe  in  continuous 
special  interpositions  in  their  course,  blind  to  the  existence  of 
the  all-pervading,  greater,  central  miracle  of  their  self-contained 
perfect  action. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
man's  spiritual  place  in  nature. 

THE  chief  obstacle  to  universal  belief  in  the  capacity  of  all 
animate  things  to  change,  and  in  their  tendency  to  perfec- 
tion, lies  in  the  fact  that  with  many  it  violates  a  preconception 
of  their  special  creation  and  of  the  origin  of  the  soul.  Never- 
theless, truth  is  truth  as  to  its  essence,  one  truth  differing  from 
another  solely  in  the  difference  hy  which  one  is  relatively  more 
important  than  another  through  its  consequences.  If  God  is  all 
truth,  then  it  should  seem  that  what  would  be  most  agreeable  to 
Him  would  be  the  acceptance  by  His  creatures  of  whatever 
fragment  of  truth  it  had  been  given  them  to  comprehend.  If  it 
can  be  reconciled  with  conscience  to  reject  at  pleasure  anything 
whatsoever  which  is  perceived  as  truth,  because  it  is  in  apparent 
conflict  with  some  other  truth,  or  for  any  other  cause,  there  is 
left  no  criterion  for  belief.  At  every  step  in  daily  life  we  recog- 
nize as  true  that  which  not  only  conflicts  with  another  concep- 
tion, but  seems  positively  to  contradict  it.  Yet  we  do  not  recoil 
from  recognizing  both  as  true,  nor  are  ashamed  to  confess  that 
our  inability  to  reconcile  the  apparent  contradiction  lies  in  the 
weakness  of  our  understanding.  What  we  think  is  the  truth  to 
us.  Soul  and  body  may  be  in  conflict, — they  often  are ;  but  the 
conscience,  the  individual  capacity  for  truthfulness  is  not,  how- 
ever lowly  organized,  of  dual  nature.  When  its  decisions,  as 
revealed  by  men's  conduct,  seem  to  conflict  with  one  another,  it 
is  not  conscience  that  has  spoken,  and  contradicts  itself,  for  it 
is  the  silent  monitor,  but  fear  or  some  other  base  motive  which 
is  warping,  suppressing,  or  in  some  other  way  constraining  tacit 
admission  or  utterance  of  conviction  of  the  truth. 

The  question,  however,  arises  whether  there  is  any  such 

(63) 


04  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

single  alternative  offered  :ts  thai  which  the  fears  of  many  prompt 
them  to  think  necessitated  by  acceptance  of  the  law  of  develop* 
Hunt  a>  true;  whether  acceptance  of  the  law  as  true  is  incom- 
patible with  belief  in  revealed  religion,  and  means  acceptance  of 
materialism.  To  him,  doubtless,  who  believes  that  the  Scriptures 
in  their  entirety,  both  Old  and  New  Testaments,  are  directly 
inspired  throughout,  and  therefore  every  jot  and  tittle  therein 
is  necessarily  true,  the  discovery  that  any  part  could  not  be,  is 
liable  at  any  moment  to  shatter  his  faith  to  the  foundation. 
Such  a  one,  however  firm  he  deems  himself,  stands  on  most  un- 
certain ground.  To  one,  however,  who  looks  upon  the  Scriptures 
as  the  work  of  men  who,  although  inspired  by  the  truth,  still 
necessarily  uttered  it  with  human  limitations,  through  the 
vehicles  which  they  had,  the  conceptions  which  they  possessed, 
the  language  which  they  spoke,  he  perceives  that  it  must  bear 
with  it  the  stamp  of  the  imperfections  of  its  intermediate  source. 
One  can  readily  conceive  of  men  inspired  to  testify  to  such 
truth  as  was  committed  to  them,  communicating  it  to  others 
with  imperfections,  and  yet  the  essential  truth  remaining  undis- 
turbed. In  fact,  the  very  limitations  under  which  such  men 
would  strive  to  tell  the  truth  would  in  themselves  make  it  com- 
prehensible to  mankind.  Thus,  and  thus  only,  could  the  essen- 
tial truth  come  within  the  sphere  of  general  recognition.  How 
otherwise  can  any  truth  be  known  unless  it  come  within  the 
lines  and  grasp  of  human  thought?  The  only  inspiration  which 
could  have  been  effective  was  that  within  human  limitations,  and 
these  include  in  both  teacher  and  taught  the  general  and  special 
knowledge  possessed,  and  vary  with  every  individual,  nation,  and 
race,  and  through  every  age  and  clime. 

To  one,  therefore,  who,  instead  of  believing  that  God  created 
man  and  all  things  by  His  omnipotent  fiat,  believes  that  he  made 
the  earth  in  six  days,  and  rested  on  the  seventh,  and  specially 
created  Adam  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  then,  casting  a  deep 


man's  spiritual  place  in  nature.  65 

sleep  upon  him,  fashioned  the  first  woman,  Eve,  from  one  of  his 
ribs ;  who  believes  that  He  ever  caused  the  sun  and  moon  to 
stand  still ;  who  believes  these  and  other  similar  things,  believes 
in  the  Bible  in  a  sense  which,  if  others  were  converted  to  it, 
would  sweep  away  forever  from  their  vision  the  semblance  of  an 
all-wise  Creator.  It  is  the  infatuation  which  holds  on  with 
tenacity  to  every  useless,  crumbling  scrap  of  cement  that  entered 
into  the  magnificent  edifice  and  citadel  of  Christianity,  that 
enables  its  enemies  to  go  on  relentlessly  sapping  at  its  founda- 
tions. Shall  it  be  said,  if  one  doubt  anything  here,  upon  how- 
ever apparently  good  grounds,  that  it  were  safer  to  believe,  for 
the  ways  of  God  are  past  finding  out  ?  Of  a  surety  they  are, 
and  such  an  account  of  them  would  seem  to  make  them  of  all 
ways  the  most  easy  of  discovery.  Can  any  one  believe  of  Him 
who  created  light  that  He  would  resort  for  any  cause  to  a  man- 
date that  the  sun  stand  still?  Is  the  standing  still  of  the  sun  to 
be  literally  understood?  The  sun,  sweeping  onward  with  the 
whole  solar  system  toward  the  bright  star  Vega,  near  the  Milky 
Way,  has  that  proper  motion  and  another,  rotation  on  his  axis. 
Standing  still  as  to  either  motion  would  not  affect  diurnal  dura- 
tion of  light  upon  the  earth  ;  therefore  a  mandate  to  the  sun  to 
stand  still  cannot  be  taken  literally.  Shall  it  be  taken  as  in- 
clusive of  allowance  for  the  astronomical  ignorance  of  the  times 
permitting  men  to  believe  that  the  sun  revolved  around  the 
earth,  and  suppose  that,  correctly  interpreted,  the  mandate  meant 
that  the  earth  should  stand  still?  The  earth's  standing  still 
would  mean  arrest  of  both  orbital  and  axial  motions.  The  catas- 
trophe that  would  have  ensued  to  the  armies  both  of  Joshua  and 
the  Amorites  would  have  been  appalling,  in  the  indiscriminate 
ruin  that  would  have  absorbed  all  question  of  victory  or  defeat. 
The  solid  rock  of  the  earth  would  have  crumbled  to  its  base, 
and  mountains  toppling  to  their  fall  would  have  rushed  wildly  as 
meteors  into  space ;  the  moon,  supposed  to  have  stayed  to  lend 


6G  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL   BEAT  TV. 

her  light  for  victory,  would  have  swept  onward  beyond  her 
orbit.  If  the  Creator  had  for  a  transient  purpose  been  willing 
to  interfere  with  His  general  laws,  how  impossible  it  is  coin- 
cidently  for  Him  to  have  so  interfered  as  to  defeat  his  purpose 
by  wrecking  a  world,  from  which,  still  enduring,  we  worship 
Him  dwelling  behind  those  general  laws  in  majesty  and  power. 
The  ways  of  God  are  past  finding  out.  Aye,  else  He  were 
not  God.  But,  we  can  be  very  sure  they  are  not  such  as  these, 
but,  like  those  which  we  see  working  all  around  us,  of  most 
magnificent  simplicity,  law  within  law  stretching  backward  to 
the  supreme  law  of  all,  to  the  Law-giver. 

Can  any  one  deliberately  say  that  God  created  the  earth  in 
six  days,  and  rested  on  the  seventh  ?  Regarding  the  Biblical 
account  of  the  creation  as  an  epithalamium,  or  song  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving  for  all  the  wondrous  works  of  nature,  it  is  a 
most  beautiful  effusion,  not  exceeded  by  any  thought  that  has 
entered  into  the  mind  of  man.  The  clays,  as  representing 
periods  of  growth  ;  the  resting  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  period,  as 
representing  simply  the  cessation  of  the  processes  by  which  the 
earth  came  to  be  fitted  for  a  world  ;  the  creation  of  man  as  repre- 
senting the  advent  of  the  most  highly  organized  being,  who  was 
to  be  the  ruler  on  earth  ;  all  these,  as  generalized  in  the  account, 
are  of  a  truth  represented  by  surpassing  beauty  of  expression. 
Taken  literally,  they  sink  the  account  of  the  creation  to  depths 
from  which  all  truth  and  beauty  disappear.  Nor  is  it  simple 
truth  and  beauty  which  thus  disappear  with  the  literalness  of 
such  rendering.  The  truth  is  of  that  holiness  which  pervades 
the  mind  with  a  sense  of  the  infinite.  It  dwindles  away  with  the 
letter  to  insignificance.  It  is  that  sense  of  holiness  which  per- 
vades all  the  Scriptures,  amidst  associated  imperfections  whose 
very  presence  brings  conviction  otherwise  unattainable.  We 
insensibly  make  allowance  for  the  imperfection  of  the  medium 
through  which  inspiration  came,  and  all  impression  of  ulterior 


man's  spiritual  place  in  nature.  CT 

design  among  the  authors  of  the  writings  disappears  in  percep- 
tion of  their  steadfast  thought  and  movement  toward  belief  and 
action  working  for  righteousness. 

There  is  nothing  incompatible,  in  what  has  been  said,  with 
the  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  by  Him  who,  knowing  the 
law  so  well  that  when,  in  the  Temple,  He  sat  as  a  mere  boy 
amidst  the  assembled  doctors,  answering  and  asking  questions, 
later  said,  when  He  had  proclaimed  His  mission  on  earth,  "Think 
not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law,  or  the  prophets  :  I  am 
not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill."  Is  there  an}'  evidence  there- 
from that  He,  accepted  by  His  disciples  as  the  highest  interpreter 
of  the  law,  regarded  every  word  of  the  Old  Scriptures  as  directly 
inspired  of  God?  On  the  contrary,  we  find  Him, while  affirming 
certain  things  in  them  as  true,  putting  aside  others  in  a  form  of 
speech  which  is  far,  indeed,  from  affirmation  of  their  universal, 
literal  truth,  impressing  the  mind  with  quite  the  opposite  inten- 
tion. For,  said  He  not,  to  a  concourse  of  Jews,"  And  the}'  [the 
Scriptures]  are  the}'  which  testify  of  Me,"  but,  in  the  same 
breath,  "  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life."  The  law 
which  Christ  thereby  affirmed  was  the  law  of  the  Old  Testament; 
but  in  those  writings  there  is  much  else  besides  the  law.  There 
is  nothing  going  to  show  that  Christ  affirmed  among  them  more 
than  the  truth  of  the  law  and  the  prophecies  of  His  coming. 
Much  of  the  rest,  confirmed  in  the  most  wonderful  way  in  the 
discoveries  of  modern  times,  amid  the  ruins  of  Assyria,  Baby- 
lonia, and  Egypt,  relates  to  historical  events  seen  through  the 
minds  of  primitive  men,  and  bears  the  stamp  of  aboriginal 
limitations. 

Nor  does  this  aspect  of  the  Scriptures,  although  in  far  less 
degree,  cease  to  impress  the  mind,  even  in  the  new  Scriptures, 
there  being  no  guarantee  from  Christ  himself  that  the  teachings 
of  the  best  human  instruments  which  He  could  choose  from 
among  men  for  His  purpose  would  prove  infallible.     He  himself 


68  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,    AND   TERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

said,  as  Bumming  up  the  misconceptions  of  the  world  as  to  His 
mission,"  I  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword,1'  and  through- 
out we  see,  as  communicated  through  the  medium  of  many 
minds,  that  His  spiritual  meanings  were  constant^'  misconceived. 
He  says,  it  is  true,  that  after  His  departure  "the  Comforter,  the 
Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  He  shall 
teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance, 
whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you."  So, at  this  late  moment,  just 
before  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross,  even  those  nearest  to  Him,  His 
chosen  disciples,  did  not  fully  understand  Him.  He  had  pre- 
viously said,  "  And  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  He  shall  give  jou 
another  Comforter,  that  He  may  abide  with  you  forever,  the 
Spirit  of  Truth  whom  the  world  cannot  receive,  because  it  seeth 
Him  not,  neither  knows  of  Him;  but  ye  know  Him,  for  He 
dwelleth  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  j-ou."  So  that  it  was  inti- 
mated to  the  disciples  themselves  that  they  were  not,  until  after 
the  sacrifice,  equal  to  the  truth,  and  that  the  world  generally 
was  incapable  of  seeing  it. 

But  what  is  the  truth  which  is  referred  to  throughout  by 
Christ,  from  the  time  of  His  reference  to  the  Scriptures  as  pre- 
dicting the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  down  to  the  period  when, 
just  before  His  death,  He  speaks  in  the  most  tender  manner  to 
the  specially  loved  ones  from  whom  He  is  about  to  depart?  It 
was  religious  truth,  the  added  fact  to  the  prophecy,  that  God  had 
sent  the  prophesied  Messiah  to  redeem  the  world  b}r  a  higher  law 
and  final  sacrifice. 

He  had  proved  His  mission  by  speaking  as  man  had  never 
spoken,  and  by  acting  as  never  man  had  acted.  It  was  this 
central  truth,  with  all  its  consequences,  with  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  to  imbue  the  disciples,  from  whom  it  was  to  radiate 
in  holy  effluence  upon  mankind.  Christ  affirmed  no  other  than 
religious  truth,  the  truth  as  to  the  living  God,  His  own  mission 
as  the  Saviour  of  mankind,  and  the  divine  influence  which  thence- 


man's  spiritual  place  in  nature.  69 

forth  should  illumine  the  minds  of  men.  The  world  had  to  wait 
for  centuries  before  the  true  cosmogony  was  known.  The 
science  of  biology  is  of  most  recent  growth,  and  that  of  geology 
scarcely  dates  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  century. 

If  men  look  to  the  continued  beneficent  spread  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  it  would  be  well  for  them  to  cast  behind  them 
all  extraneous  matter  relating  to  truths  that  are  independent 
of  each  other,  occupying  entirely  different  spheres  of  thought. 
It  is  the  spirit  in  religious  things  which  quickeneth  :  the  flesh 
profiteth  nothing.  Cling  to  the  idea  that  belief  in  Christianity 
is  conditioned  on  belief  in  the  literal  meaning  of  every  sentence 
and  word  of  the  Scriptures,  and  at  any  moment  faith  in  them 
may  be  shattered.  Believe  that  men  cannot  see  bej^ond  their 
discernment,  cannot  correctly  interpret  and  communicate  what 
they  do  not  fully  comprehend,  but,  notwithstanding,  may  be 
possessed  of  some  great  essential  truth,  and  then  the  Christian 
religion  is  reconciled  with  every  discovery  of  science, — not,  as 
upheld  by  many  of  its  defenders,  weakly  shifting  from  one  to 
another  untenable  position.  From  this  point  of  view  the 
promised  enlightenment  from  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  was  to 
comfort  men,  includes  within  it  all  that  science  may  know  and 
discover,  for  science  is  but  one  path  of  reverential  approach 
to  God. 

Christianity,  divested  of  the  inevitable  imperfection  of  the 
medium  through  which,  through  a  long  period,  it  gradually  ap- 
proached and  finalty  reached  mankind,  rests  within  its  own  sphere 
upon  as  irrefragable  evidence  as  any  which  can  bring  conviction 
to  the  mind.  What  if  there  are  savage  tribes  which  do  not  know 
of  God  ?  Is  there  not  reason  to  believe  that  once  such  was  the 
condition  of  man  over  all  the  earth  ?  Is  not  the  prospect  most 
hopeful  now,  when  we  regard  the  enormous  mental  range  between 
the  extremes  of  men  as  represented  b}r  the  savage  and  the  civil- 
ized ?     What  if  the  agnostic  can  speak  of  God  as  the  Unknow- 


7(1  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

able?  Does  he  not  thereby  grant  the  existence  of  God  ?  Granted 
the  existence  of  God,  thereby  is  conceded  His  existence  as  the 
Creator.  If  He  is  the  Creator,  then  He  cannot  be  indifferent  to 
the  highest  of  His  creatures  on  earth, — the  crown  and  summit 
there  of  his  creative  will,  distinguished  above  all  else  by  the  de- 
velopment of  mind.  If  we  are  to  regard  mind  as  no  more  than 
evolution  of  matter  to  high  percipient  consciousness,  reacting 
Upon  the  individual  body,  and,  through  utilitarian  experience 
rising  to  conscience,  then  "  we  are,"  as  Saint  Paul  says,  "  of  all 
men  most  miserable."  But  if,  on  the  contrary,  we  are  to  regard 
mind  as  the  afflatus  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  which,  by  gradual  evo- 
lution,  associated  with  corporal  agencies  fitted  for  the  conditions 
of  earthly  life,  eventually  places  man  in  the  position  of  a  being 
responsible  through  conscience  to  the  Creator,  we  must  deem  it 
the  sanest  conclusion  of  the  most  mature  thought. 

The  heathen  and  the  worshiper  of  the  one  God  alike 
yearned  for  a  token  of  divine  superintendence,  prompted  by  the 
instinct  and  reason  which,  at  a  certain  stage  of  mental  develop- 
ment, looked  bej'ond  the  earth  for  a  token  of  an  even  grander 
revelation  of  the  significance  of  creation.  As,  among  mono- 
theists,  man  was  believed  to  have  been  created  in  the  mental 
likeness  of  God,  and  to  hold  those  relations  with  God  which  the 
maturing  conscience  leads  him  to  conclude  exist,  it  was  naturally 
credited  by  millions  of  beings  who  dwelt  on  earth  that,  in  due 
time,  He  would  indicate  His  presence  and  His  will.  Men's  belief 
that  one  might  be  so  commissioned  of  God  is,  of  course,  no  evi- 
dence that  there  would  be  such  an  advent.  It  affords  merely 
presumption  as  to  the  probability  that  a  sentiment  so  almost 
universally  experienced  at  a  certain  stage  of  mental  development 
represents  an  unrevealed  truth. 

Here,  men,  at  a  certain  period  of  the  history  of  the  world, 
entered  upon  another  and  entirely  different  phase  of  evidence, 
the  strength  of  which  must  be  judged   like  that  of  any  other 


man's  spiritual  place  in  nature.  71 

human  evidence,  for  the  appeal  is  on  no  other  ground  than  to 
human  reason,  through  evidence  from  human  sources. 

As  has  already  been  intimated,  men  being  human,  it  could 
fully  reach  their  understandings  in  no  other  way.  The  fact  that 
the  evidence  is  human  upon  which  we  are  to  believe  or  disbelieve 
in  the  commission  of  Christ  as  divine,  is  therefore  no  disparage- 
ment to  its  weight.  Christ  himself  appealed  to  it  as  that  which 
proved  its  divinity.  All  that  we  know  and  can  possibly  learn 
as  to  the  earthly  or  divine  must  rest  upon  what  can  reach  us 
through  the  avenues  to  the  human  intellect.  The  conceptions 
which  at  any  time  exist  in  the  mind  upon  which  perception  can 
be  based,  are  all  that  we  possess  by  which  to  judge  of  and  to 
accept  or  reject  any  new  proposition.  It  is  therefore  only  by 
this  means  of  reaching  the  sort  of  conviction  which  we  denomi- 
nate truth,  that  our  conclusions  as  to  the  divinity  of  Christ's 
mission  must  be  reached. 

That  He  lived  and  taught  we  must  know,  for,  aside  from  the 
narrative  of  His  followers,  both  those  indifferent  and  those  in- 
imical to  Him  have  recorded  His  existence  and  teachings.  Jo- 
sephus  mentions  Him,  and  Publius  Lentulus,  a  Roman  centurion, 
who  happened  to  be  stationed  in  Jerusalem,  wrote  to  Rome  a 
description  of  His  ways,  and  even  of  His  personal  appearance. 
The  fact  of  His  existence,  therefore,  and  of  His  teaching,  and  of 
the  character  of  His  teaching,  cannot  be  denied.  He  indisputably 
lived,  and,  according  to  testimonj'  of  the  most  diverse  kind,  He 
died  upon  the  cross,  reviled  b}^  His  persecutors,  and  sorrowed 
over  by  His  friends,  as  no  man  before  or  since.  He  had  lived 
and  taught  for  years  the  way  of  life,  which  we  now  find  em- 
bodied in  what  is  called  the  gospel.  He  lived  in  the  broad  light 
of  day  as  men  have  rarely  lived.  And  in  this  time  no  flaw  or 
stain  was  to  be  found  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  The  evi- 
dence of  this  is  more  complete  than  that  which  any  single  man 
can   acquire  from  personal  observation  of  any  event.     Christ 


72  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

is  seen  through  the  collective  testimony  of  men  of  the  most 
diverse  minds  and  leanings,  throughout  His  whole  career,  some 
of  whom  wrote  of  Him  after  His  departure  with  such  diversity, 
that  the  aggregate  of  testimony  brings  greater  conviction  than 
otherwise,  because,  while  differing  as  to  particulars,  it  never 
conflicts  in  essentials,  or  deviates  from  presenting  the  same  per- 
fectly majestic  presence. 

Fanaticism  has  had  no  such  knowledge,  nor  ever  such  life 
and  action.  The  ancients  who  had  risen  above  the  stature  of 
their  compatriots  had  taught  a  morality  of  the  reason,  but  here 
was  one  who  addressed  men,  compounded  as  they  are  of  reason 
and  sentiment,  and  who  taught  them  that  the  highest  reason  in 
religion  leads  to  the  highest  law  of  love.  Christ  spoke  as  one 
having  authority  to  speak,  and  so  conclusively  to  those  who 
were  not  looking  for  an  earthly  king,  that  with  a  revelation  of 
goodness  which  the  world  had  never  seen  He  carried  all  before 
Him  in  the  triumphal  advance  which  ended  with  His  injunction 
to  His  disciples  to  go  and  teach  all  nations.  None  the  less, 
because  His  example  and  teachings  have  been  obscured  by  cere- 
monial and  strife,  have  they  continued  to  advance  and  conquer 
and  rule  the  world  to  seeming  perpetuity.  Where  would  the 
world  morally  be  now,  if  at  the  period  of  Christ's  coming  it  had 
not  been  saved  b}-  His  message  from  the  condition  into  which  it 
was  plunged?  Whence,  therefore,  one  may  well  ask,  could  such 
a  change  as  has  overtaken  it  have  come,  except  from  God  ? 
Although  the  world  was  then,  as  the  event  proved,  far  enough 
advanced  to  be  receptive  of  the  highest  moral  law,  it  would  still 
have  gone  on  regardless  of  it  if  Christ  had  not  appeared  and 
shed  upon  it  His  enlightenment.  That  one  lowly  born  and  bred 
and  educated  should  appear  and  prove  himself  the  master  and 
king  of  men,  swaying  a  world  centuries  after  His  death,  is  not 
to  be  ascribed  to  any  but  divine  commission. 

The  existence  of  God  should  be  manifest  through  creation. 


man's  spiritual  place  in  nature.  73 

It  should  again  be  manifest  through  the  coming  of  Christ. 
Only  to  him  who  denies  the  existence  of  God,  should  the  mission 
of  Christ  be  doubtful.  If  it  seem  doubtful,  then  is  evidence, 
which  in  its  cumulative  force  is  equal  to  that  on  any  other  sub- 
ject, rejected.  Assuming  the  existence  of  God,  and  the  implied 
watchfulness  over  a  creation  which  He  has  seen  fit  to  make, 
in  no  other  manner  so  effectually  could  a  way  of  life  have  been 
shown  to  men  as  by  the  precept  and  example  of  one  of  whom 
could  be  said,  Ecce  Homo.  Not  less  comprehensible  is  it  that 
the  coming  of  Christ  should  have  been  for  the  salvation  of  a 
fragment  of  the  universe,  when  we  reflect  that,  if  it  had  been 
within  the  purpose  of  the  Omnipotent,  a  Saviour  might  have 
lived  and  died  at  the  same  or  another  time  in  worlds  innumera- 
ble, or  that  the  purposes  of  the  Omnipotent,  being  necessarily  as 
infinite  as  the  universe,  of  which  we  see  but  a  part,  we,  of 
proved  incapacity  to  understand  fully  what  touches  us  most 
nearly,  need  not  explore  beyond  into  the  depths  of  the  unfathom- 
able. If  it  be  asked  by  the  materialist,  if  a  divinely  authorized 
earthly  dispensation  would  not,  from  what  has  been  said,  be  as 
.much  an  interference  with  natural  laws  as  any  that  can  be  con- 
ceived, the  answer  is  that  it  has  not  been  here  implied  that  God 
would  never  interfere  with  physical  laws,  but  merely  that  He 
would  not  interfere  with  them  except  for  good  cause.  When 
we  see  around  us  a  moral  world  as  well  as  a  physical  world,  we 
need  for  comprehension  of  its  existence,  as  much  as  for  compre- 
hension of  the  existence  of  the  physical  world,  to  infer  the  will 
of  the  Creator. 

At  a  certain  stage  of  mental  development,  the  depth  of 
whose  degradation  may  be  estimated  by  observation  of  some 
still-existing  tribes,  man  was  undoubtedly  too  low  in  the  scale 
of  being  to  develop  the  idea  of  a  Maker  and  Ruler  of  the  Uni- 
verse. But,  with  the  development  of  the  organ  of  thought,  the 
brain,  came,  among  other  attributes,  the  birth  and  growth  of 


74  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

conscience.  The  first  faint  glimmerings  of  the  religious  sense 
may  have  been  produced,  as  Darwin,  Spencer,  and  other  writers 
think,  l>y  tear  of  ghosts,  of  shadows,  and  of  all  the  mysteries 
that  haunt  the  path  of  the  untutored  savage,  leading  to  pro- 
pitiatory sacrifices  and  rites  of  all  sorts;  and  the  pressure  of  rude 
wants  may  have  led  to  awakening  of  some  perception  of  mutual 
dependence,  but  not,  as  these  authors  think,  to  sonic  experience 
of  sympathy,  and  thus  to  the  first  germs  of  conscience.  These, 
assuredly,  were  only  adventitious  aids  to  the  development  of 
conscience  from  the  first  beginnings.  Sympathy,  with  utilitarian 
basis,  might  have  seemingly  gone  on  forever  without  producing 
conscience.  In  fact,  to  think  of  such  action,  as  mutual  exchange 
of  offices  from  necessity,  as  awakening  sympathy,  when  both 
motive  and  action  represent  barter,  is  to  form  a  false  concep- 
tion, for  if  conscience  be  anything  definite  it  is,  at  its  lowrest 
conceivable  point,  the  reverse  of  utilitarian. 

That  Darwin  was  liable  egregiously  to  err  in  discussing 
these  questions,  which  are  so  foreign  to  the  domain  in  which  he 
supremely  reigned,  is  proved  conclusively  by  his  remark  in 
"  The  Descent  of  Man,"  where  he  says,  "M}7  critics  do  not  de- 
fine what  they  mean  by  remorse,  and  I  can  find  no  definition 
implying  more  than  an  overwhelming  sense  of  repentance." 

Yet,  even  in  the  ordinary  acceptation,  these  two  affections 
of  the  mind  are  regarded  as  essentially  different.  Both  repent- 
ance and  remorse,  it  is  true,  are  fundamentally  based  upon 
grief,  but  whereas  the  grief  of  repentance  represents  to  the 
mind  of  the  sufferer  grief  capable  of  being  assuaged,  because 
the  cause  of  it  is  capable  of  redress,  or  of  expiation  by  suf- 
fering, or  both,  the  grief  of  remorse  offers  no  such  flattering 
prospect  to  the  mind,  for  in  it  the  grief  is  conditioned  upon 
belief  in  its  being  beyond  the  bounds  of  possible  redress  or 
expiation  by  repentance.  Can  there  be  any  two  affections  of 
the  mind  more  diverse  than  these,  into  one  of  which  hope  enters, 


man's  spiritual  place  in  nature.  75 

and  in  the  other  of  which  the  grief  is  so  excessive  as  to 
be  centred  less  in  the  idea  of  the  wrong  done,  than  in  that  of 
self-condemnation?  That  remorse  may  engulf  even  grief  for 
wrong-doing  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  to  fiends  is  imputed  in 
their  despair  the  desire  for  the  perpetration  of  further  evil. 
What  is  imputed  to  these  is  what  the  collective  soul  of  mankind 
is  conscious  of  as  representing  the  final  outcome  of  hopeless 
repentance.  This  is  what  distinguishes  remorse  from  repent- 
ance, and  makes  of  it  another  sentiment  and  law  of  conduct.  It 
is  the  difference  in  thought  and  action  as  inspired  by  hope,  as 
contrasted  with  thought  and  action  as  inspired  by  despair. 

Dickens  evidently  had  no  doubt  of  the  difference  between 
the  two  passions,  for  we  find  him  writing,  with  the  instinct  of 
the  born  psychologist,  in  the  description  of  the  elder  Weller's 
last  interview  with  the  Rev.  Stiggins : — 

Mr.  Stiggins,  encouraged  by  this  sound,  which  he  understood  to  betoken 
remorse  or  repentance,  looked  about  him,  nibbed  his  hands,  wept,  smiled,  wept 
again,  and  then,  walking  softly  across  the  room  to  a  well-remembered  shelf  in  one 
corner,  took  down  a  tumbler,  and  with  great  deliberation  put  four  lumps  of  sugar 
in  it. 

Observe  that  the  sound  uttered  by  the  elder  Weller  struck 
the  Rev.  Stiggins  as  indicative  of  remorse  or  repentance. 

Conscience,  even  in  its  lowest  estate,  is  to  be  regarded  as  a 
creation  appearing  at  a  certain  epoch  of  man's  existence,  subject 
to  growth  and  aberration  while  constrained  along  the  lines 
of  evolution.  To  him,  therefore,  who  regards  mankind  as 
compounded  of  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical  elements  of 
being,  each  equally  the  endowment  of  the  Creator  through 
supreme  law,  each  developing  side  by  side,  each  ascending  from 
inferior  to  superior  tj^pe,  it  is  not  incomprehensible  that  grow- 
ing religious  perception  should  have  instituted  false  religions, 
or  that  a  divinely-appointed  exemplar  should  at  last  have  placed 
the  seal  upon  a  world  fitted  to  profit  through  ages  by  the  pre- 
sentment of  an  unattainable  ideal  of  human  excellence. 


CHAPTER  V. 
man's  physical  place  in  nature. 

WE  have  now  reached  a  point  where  matter  extraneous  to 
the  subject,  constantly  obstructing  its  fair  discussion, 
having  been  put  aside,  we  can  dispassionately  examine  the  ques- 
tion involved.  The  only  remaining  difficulty  to  be  encountered 
in  discussing  it  is  one  which,  owing  to  the  constitution  of  the 
mind,  is  unavoidable  in  the  examination  of  any  new  proposition. 
The  mind,  while  searching  for  truth,  and  eagerly  imbibing  it 
(desire  to  know  the  truth  being,  as  John  Stuart  Mill  thought, 
the  dominant  characteristic  of  mankind),  is  nevertheless  strongly 
conservative  in  its  tendencies.  For  proof,  one  has  but  to  look 
around  to  see  how  at  the  mercy  of  circumstances  most  conviction 
is.  The  savage  implicitly  takes  upon  credit  what  he  inherits  in 
belief  from  his  progenitors.  So  he  goes  on,  generation  after 
generation,  making  no  advance.  The  civilized  man,  too,  but 
with  a  difference  to  be  presently  noted,  believes  what  is  trans- 
mitted to  him,  because  he,  equally  with  the  savage,  must  accept 
the  main  stock  of  beliefs  presented  to  him,  for  it  would  be  as 
irrational  in  his  case  as  in  that  of  the  savage  for  him  to  reject 
that  which  there  is  nothing  to  replace,  and  for  each  individual 
thus  to  begin  the  world  afresh,  and  because,  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  life,  as  no  one  can  learn  everything  for  himself,  he 
is  perforce  obliged  mainly  to  accept  as  true  that  which  he  finds 
at  hand. 

Thus  we  see  among  men  manners  which  they  inherit,  religion 
which  they  inherit,  and  knowledge  of  nature  which  they  inherit. 
But  there  is  this  important  difference  between  the  civilized  and 
the  savage  man,  that  the  mind  of  the  former  has  become  more 
plastic  than  that  of  the  other.  He  is  open  to  conviction  on  sub- 
jects in  which  his  senses  belie  the  facts.     He  knows  that  the 

(77) 


78  IIKKKP1TY,    HEALTH,    AND   rERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

senses  alone  are  most  fallible  in  their  conclusions.  lie  uses 
them  only  as  avenues  by  which  impressions  reach  him,  and  he 
summons  them  as  witnesses  to  testify  before  his  intellect,  to 
contradict  or  confirm  each  other,  and  thereby  make  manifest  the 
truth.  On  the  contrary,  the  crucial  test  of  the  savage  is  a  single 
one. — the  visual  test.  "With  him  seeing  is  believing.  He  is  un- 
equal to  the  conception  that  seeing  may  be  illusory.  So  also, 
and  for  the  same  reason,  it  is  to  be  observed  in  the  uneducated, 
among  civilized  beings,  that  seeing  is  the  final  test  of  right  to 
believe. 

The  educated,  although  they  do,  as  admitted,  possess  a  stock 
of  inherited  beliefs,  differ  in  sum  from  the  savage  and  the  un- 
educated among  the  civilized  in  the  important  points,  that  they 
are  perfectly  aware  that  a  portion  of  their  stock  of  beliefs  must, 
from  the  nature  of  things,  be  erroneous,  that  thej'are  distrustful 
of  their  powers  of  reaching  truth,  and  that  they  are  consequently 
careful  in  arriving  at  conviction.  This  attitude  of  mind  is  the 
only  sure  foundation  for  advance.  The  world  can  advance  on 
no  other  terms.  The  modern  investigation  into  the  nature 
which  we  see  all  around  us  is,  as  was  the  ancient,  with  most  im- 
perfect means,  prompted  by  an  inherent  desire  to  know  and  to 
abide  by  the  truth.  The  prompting  has  been  called  scientific 
wonder,  which  term  truly  designates  the  feeling  with  which  men 
approach  the  mysteries  of  nature.  To  suppose  that  it  is  not 
associated  in  the  majority  of  the  ablest  minds  with  a  reverential 
attitude  is  to  be  ignorant  of  the  glories  that  are  unfolded,  and 
of  the  effect  of  their  contemplation. 

Love  of  the  truth,  from  the  lowest  savage,  from  the  virago 
of  civilization  who,  standing  with  arms  akimbo,  listens  to  gossip 
about  her  neighbors,  to  the  one  who  lives  in  the  world  of  micro- 
scopic beings  as  well  as  in  his  own,  or  the  one  who  sits  observant 
of  the  marshalling  of  the  stars,  is  a  distinctively  human  attribute, 
capable,  as  these  extremes  show,  of  infinite  development  for 


man's  physical  place  in  nature.  79 

good.  It  is  developed  love  of  truth  which  is  leading  the  present 
great  advance  of  civilization  in  science,  literature,  and  the  n  rts. 
It  is  this  prompting  which  has  led  to  investigation  of  the  gene- 
alogy of  man,  the  sources  of  his  earthly  being. 

When  we  survey  the  whole  animal  world  a  most  remarkable 
series  of  facts  present  themselves.  We  find  individual  life  bound 
up  in  a  single  cell,  in  colonies  of  cells,  in  animals  composed  of  a 
few  cells,  and  in  those  composed  of  multitudinous  cells.  We 
find  cells  in  the  same  animal  producing  tissue,  and,  while  so  pro- 
ducing, changing  their  forms  to  suit  special  purposes.  We  find 
in  the  human  organism,  for  instance,  excluding  the  primary,  and 
from  the  first,  somewhat  differentiated  cell  called  the  ovum,  or 
egg,  cells  which  seem  capable  of  infinite  differentiation,  to  form 
bone,  marrow,  skin,  and  all  other  parts  of  the  body. 

Passing  beyond  these  phenomena,  we  find  in  all  the  animal 
kingdoms  strange  similarities,  masked  by  dissimilarities,  of  struc- 
ture as  representing  function.  We  find,  referring  now  onby  to 
the  vertebrates,  that  even  skull  and  brain  seem  to  be  graduated 
from  vertebrae,  one  of  the  lowest,  if  not  the  very  lowest  of  the 
vertebrates,  the  lancelet  (amphioxus),  which  was  classed  by 
Cuvier  as  a  worm,  being  without  a  head. 

But  now,  confining  ourselves  strictly  to  the  vertebrate  sub- 
kingdom,  lest  we  become  involved  in  considerations  too  extended 
for  our  purpose,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  we  find  among  them  a 
distinct  graduation  among  organs.  Just  as  before  we  saw  that, 
comparing  living  with  extinct  forms,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  among  animals  there  has  been  a  continuous  related  transla- 
tion of  one  form  into  another,  these  branching  off  at  times  from 
some  common  progenitors  into  separate  lines  of  descent ;  so, 
also,  we  find,  among  vertebrates,  external  and  internal  differ- 
ences of  structure  relating  to  function,  which  seem  to  graduate 
into  each  other.  More  than  that,  when  we  come  to  examine  at 
different  periods  of  its  development  the  ernbryo  of  the  same 


80  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

animal,  we  find  singular  attributes  to  be  possessed  by  it  appar- 
ently unnecessary  to  its  present  or  prospective  existence. 

That  all  things  which  are  known  to  ns  should  present  in 
every  respect  conditions  the  object  of  which  is  manifest,  is  an 
untenable  proposition.  But  that  all  things  which  are  known  to  us 
should  not  present  contradictions  between  the  main  conditions 
observed  and  the  main  purposes  of  life  to  be  subserved,  is  a  per- 
fect 1)'  tenable  proposition,  for,  when  there  is  a  contradiction  be- 
tween those  main  conditions  and  the  main  purposes  of  the 
individual  life,  we  reject  those  things  which  are  in  opposition  to 
the  main  purposes  of  life,  as  having  no  relation  to  it.  The  dew- 
claw  of  the  dog  is  not  only  not  of  service  to  the  animal,  but  is 
of  positive  disservice  to  him,  being  frequently  injured  and 
causing  him  uneasiness.  We  therefore  reject  it  as  having 
any  adapted  relation  to  his  present  life,  and  recognize  it  as  a 
rudiment  of  what  was  originally  useful. 

Now,  the  human  embryo,  the  foetus,  does  not  respire 
through  the  lungs.  It  could  not  breathe  through  its  lungs,  be- 
cause it  is  submerged  in  a  fluid  called  the  liquor  amnii  until,  the 
period  of  gestation  being  past,  birth  begins.  The  first  respira- 
tion which  the  newborn  child  makes  is  accompanied  by  a  sneeze 
or  a  cry,  showing  the  unwonted  impact  of  air  upon  the  lungs. 
It  respires,  as  do  all  placental  mammals,  or  those  animals  which 
have  a  placenta  and  suckle  their  j-oung.  The  placenta,  a  vascular, 
temporary  organ  (the  after-birth),  conveys  to  the  foetus,  through 
the  umbilical  cord,  circulation  derived  from  the  mother,  involv- 
ing the  oxj-genation  of  its  blood  and  the  removal  from  it  of 
effete  matters.  The  umbilical  cord,  containing  the  proper 
arteries  and  veins,  which  cord  directly  connects  the  unborn  child 
with  the  placenta,  is  the  onl}r  means  by  which  circulation,  res- 
piration, and  nutrition  are  effected  in  the  unborn  child  by  the 
circulation  of  the  mother. 

Beginning  with  the  mother  herself,  we  see,  through  embry- 


man's  physical  place  in  nature.  81 

onic  development,  that  the  whole  vagina,  and  neighboring  parts 
are  graduated  from,  and  still  rudimentarily  contain,  a  lower  form 
of  structure  for  the  function  of  gestation  and  parturition.  The 
embryo  shows  at  every  stage  remarkable  progression  from  lower 
forms  of  life,  among  the  rest  what  are  regarded  as  rudimentary 
branchiae,  or  gills.  All  these,  however,  have,  by  the  period 
of  birth,  become  completely  aborted  and  transformed  into 
what  we  know  as  appropriate  to  man.  The  very  same  parts 
serve  for  either  male  or  female,  depending  upon  what  course 
they  take  at  a  certain  stage  of  development.  What  right  have 
we,  therefore,  if  the  same  parts  can  develop  into  either  male  or 
female  organs,  to  say  that  other  parts,  having  nothing  to  do 
with  difference  of  sex,  do  not,  when  aborted  in  certain  direc- 
tions, and  taking  definite  lines  of  development  in  other  direc- 
tions, indicate  structure  which  was  pre-existent  in  the  adult 
being,  and  which  must,  therefore,  although  long  discontinued, 
represent  some  of  the  previous  history  of  the  organism  ? 

The  majority  of  scientific  men  accept  the  conclusion  indi- 
cated. It  is  believed,  and  with  reason,  as  was  remarked  in  one  of 
the  preceding  chapters,  that  the  embryo  contains  within  itself,  at 
different  stages  of  its  development  until  birth,  a  brief  abstract 
and  chronicle  in  time  of  the  being  concerned,  an  epitome,  as  it 
were,  of  its  previous  existence.  Like  all  epitomes,  however,  this 
must  necessarily  contain  a  record,  correct  as  far  as  it  goes,  but 
lacking  fullness.  It  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  embryo  itself 
has  not  lost  some  of  its  original  characteristics.  "What  has  been 
said  elsewhere  would  conflict  with  the  view  that  it  has  not 
undergone  any  change.  But  the  history  of  an  animal  should  be 
preserved  for  a  far  longer  period,  through  the  characteristics  of 
embryonic  life,  than  through  those  after  birth.  For,  whereas, 
whatever  in  life  after  birth  is  not  conducive  to  its  well-being  in 
the  struggle  of  existence,  tends  to  be  eliminated ;  that  which 
does   not   so    especially  concern    life   after   birth   would    tend 


82  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

to  remain,  unchanged  and  recorded  in  the  embryo.  When  we 
consider  how  enduring  are  certain  post-natal  useless  charac- 
teristics, when  they  are  of  no  great  disservice,  as  ill  the  ease  of 
the  vermiform  appendix  in  the  human  bowels,  a  small  cul-de-sac, 
we  may  well  understand  how,  in  an  embryonic  feature,  nature 
might  permit  the  record  in  the  embryo  to  remain  indefinitely. 
It  -lands  to  reason,  as  was  indicated,  that  the  embryo  should 
retain  certain  characteristics  of  an  original  condition  indefi- 
nitely longer  than  the  animal  does  after  birth.  But,  besides, 
the  development  of  the  embryo  proves  that  it  has  retained 
volumes  of  life-history  of  which  the  animal,  just  before  birth 
and  ever  afterward,  scarcely  shows  a  trace.  We  have,  therefore, 
in  favor  of  this  view,  a  probability,  in  this  aspect  of  the  case, 
amounting  to  a  certainty. 

The  general  anatomical  correspondence  between  man  and 
the  highest  of  the  anthropoid  apes  are  such  as  to  render  concep- 
tion of  the  graduation  of  man  into  his  present  form,  through 
some  similar  organism,  not  so  improbable  as  might  at  the  first 
glance  appear.  But  anatomy  and  physiology  do  not  .glance  at 
the  nature  of  things.  They  probe  to  the  inmost  recesses  which 
they  can  reach  in  pl^-sical  life,  and  accept  only  those  conclusions 
which  seem  forced  upon  them  by  rigid  reasoning.  If  we  are 
justified  in  reaching  any  impressions  from  superficial  examina- 
tion, it  is  undeniable  that  conclusions  which  do  not  rely  merely 
upon  first  impressions,  but  which  are  the  fruit  of  long  and 
patient  stud}',  are  entitled  to  consideration. 

Titles  of  all  sorts  have  been  devised  by  which  man  can  be 
distinctly  designated  as  entirely  different  from  the  lower  animals, 
such  as  the  tool-making  and  tool-using  animal,  all  relating  to 
perception  of  his  vastly  superior  relative  intelligence  through 
brain,  and  mechanical  ability  through  the  possession  of  a  well- 
organized  thumb.  When,  however,  we  come  to  examination  of 
his    physical   characteristics,  as   compared    with   those   of  the 


man's  physical  place  in  nature.  83 

highest  of  the  anthropoid  apes,  we  find  that  the  difference  be- 
tween them  and  man  shades  away  by  degrees.  Man  walks  erect. 
They  can  walk  semi-erect.     They  are  hairy.     So  is  the  unborn 

child.  Adult  man  is  in  a  certain  sense  hairless.  But  there  are 
among  mankind  very  hairy  races,  and  even  among  the  highly 
civilized  of  mankind  there  are  hairy  individuals.  Moreover, 
where  hair  is  least  conspicuous  on  the  person  it  still  exists  in 
what  is  called  the  lanugo  form  all  over  the  body,  except  on  the 
palms  of  the  hands,  the  soles  of  the  feet,  and  the  mucous  mem- 
brane openings  to  the  interior  of  the  body,  such  as  the  lips. 
And  to  this  fact  may  be  added  that  the  lanugo  hair  on  the  human 
body  lies  as  to  direction  on  the  different  parts  just  as  it  does  on 
the  anthropoid  apes. 

The  anthropoid  apes,  equally  with  man.  are  tailless,  but,  in 
being  tailless,  both  evidence,  in  the  os  coccygis,  the  lowest  of 
the  vertebra?,  what  seem  to  be  aborted  spinal  processes  repre- 
senting another  original  constitution  of  the  part.  The  internal 
organs  are  sensibly  alike,  with  only  those  variations  which  are 
found  among  individual  men.  The  brains  are  so  similar  as  to 
make  the  comparison  between  them  not  so  much  one  of  degree 
as  of  kind. 

Brain,  being  the  organ  of  the  mind,  especially  invites  com- 
parison between  it.  as  it  appears  in  man  and  as  it  appears  in  the 
lower  animals,  because  it  is  through  brain-power  chiefly  that 
man's  pre-eminence  in  nature  asserts  itself.  It  is  well,  therefore, 
to  observe  first  what  physically  renders  brain  most  efficient  as 
an  organ,  and,  lastly,  what  are  the  chief  differences  as  demon- 
strated between  man  and  the  anthropoid  apes.  Bear  in  mind, 
however,  that  man  is  not  supposed  to  be  descended  from  any 
one  of  them,  but  from  a  common  progenitor,  and  therefore  to 
have  inherited  through  his  descent  certain  traits  by  which  he  is 
allied  to  individuals  in  collateral  lines  of  descent. 

Full  description  of  the  brain  is  to  be  found  only  in  works 


84  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

on  anatomy,  and  would  find  no  appropriate  place  here.  For- 
tunately, however,  the  brain  possesses  certain  large  characteristic 
features  which  arc  obviously  related  to  greater  or  less  excellence 
in  its  constitution.  The  great  mass  of  the  brain,  the  cerebrum, 
consists  of  what  are  called  the  cerebral  hemispheres,  which  physi- 
cally represent  the  highest  type  of  the  brain-power  of  the  indi- 
vidual. The  cerebrum,  cerebellum,  pons,  and  medulla  oblongata, 
continuous  organs,  represent,  in  sum,  the  nervous  system  relat- 
ing to  the  special  senses  and  the  movements  of  the  bod}'. 

Low  types  of  the  cerebrum  are  characterized  lry  great  S3rm- 
metry  as  to  general  and  special  conformation.  The  smallness  of 
the  cerebellum,  or  more  particularly  the  greater  or  less  degree 
by  which  it  is  overlapped  by  the  cerebrum,  is  also  another  char- 
acteristic of  low  type  of  brain.  In  man,  the  higher  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  race  or  the  individual,  the  less  is  the  brain  sym- 
metrical, and  the  more  does  it  lie  in  folds,  or  what  are  called 
convolutions.  The  brain  of  the  microcephalous  idiot  evidences 
by  its  general  symmetry  and  absence  of  highly  convoluted  form 
its  great  inferiority.  In  the  lower  types  of  the  lower  animals 
the  cerebrum  is  distinctively  smooth  and  symmetrical,  while, 
reaching  man,  it  is  not  only  highly  variable  in  size  and  symmetry, 
but  is  variously  convoluted  in  the  individual.  The  development 
in  the  human  embryo  presents  the  same  general  sequences,  and 
through  its  testimony  offers  the  same  suggestions  to  the  mind. 

Other  things  being  equal,  size  of  brain  is  indicative  of  intel- 
lect, but  other  things  are  very  rarely  equal,  and  hence  the  very 
highest  types  of  brain,  those  in  which  the  greatest  size  and  the 
most  highly  convoluted  character  are  combined,  are  very  rare. 
When  such  occur  the  person  possessing  them  becomes,  with 
opportunity,  great  among  his  fellows.  According  to  Dr.  Mauds- 
ley,  one  of  the  highest  authorities  on  these  subjects,  quoting 
from  a  paper  by  Dr.  Thurnam,  the  average  brain-weight  of  ordi- 
naiy  European  men  is  49  ounces  ;  of  congenital  idiots,  42  ounces  ; 


man's  physical  place  in  nature.  85 

and  of  microcephalous  idiots,  Z1\  ounces ;  whereas  the  brain- 
weight  of  10  distinguished  men  named,  among  them  Daniel 
Webster,  was  54T7g-  ounces. 

As  far  back  as  18G3,  Huxley,  one  of  the  greatest  of  anato- 
mists and  biologists  of  any  age,  published  a  small  work  entitled 
"  E.vidence  as  to  Man's  Place  in  Nature,"  part  of  which  was 
effectively  a  resume  of  six  lectures  which  he  had  delivered  in 
1860  to  workingmen,  and  of  two,  delivered  in  1862,  before  the 
Philosophical  Institution  of  Edinburgh.  In  that  work,  while 
incidentally  and  provisionally  accepting  the  Darwinian  theory, 
he,  confining  himself  to  his  own  special  branch  of  science,  gave, 
after  an  ample  discussion  of  the  subject  of  man's  derivation,  his 
conclusion  that,  while  man  differs  enormously  from  the  chimpan- 
zee and  the  gorilla,  yet  the  points  of  resemblance  are  so  numerous 
as  to  warrant  us  in  believing  that  they  are  all  derived  from  the 
same  primitive  stock.     He  said  : — 

But,  in  enunciating  this  important  truth,  I  must  guard  myself  against  a 
form  of  misunderstanding  which  is  very  prevalent.  I  find,  in  fact,  that  those 
who  endeavor  to  teach  what  nature  so  clearly  shows  us  in  this  matter  are  liable 
to  have  their  opinions  misrepresented  and  their  phraseology  garbled  until  they 
seem  to  say  that  the  structural  differences  between  man  and  even  the  highest  apes 
are  small  and  insignificant.  Let  me  take  this  opportunity,  then,  of  distinctly  as- 
serting, on  the  contrary,  that  they  are  great  and  significant ;  that  every  bone  of  a 
gorilla  bears  marks  by  which  it  might  be  distinguished  from  the  corresponding 
bone  of  a  man;  and  that,  in  the  present  creation,  at  any  rate,  no  intermediate 
link  bridges  over  the  gap  between  Homo  and  Troglodytes. 

It  would  be  no  less  wrong  than  absurd  to  deny  the  existence  of  this  chasm  ; 
but  it  is  at  least  equally  wrong  and  absurd  to  exaggerate  its  magnitude,  and, 
resting  on  "the  admitted  fact  of  its  existence,  to  refuse  to  inquire  whether  it  is 
wide  or  narrow.  Remember,  if  you  will,  that  there  is  no  existing  link  between 
man  and  the  gorilla,  but  do  not  forget  that  there  is  a  no  less  sharp  line  of  demar- 
cation, a  no  less  complete  absence  of  any  transitional  form  between  the  gorilla  and 
the  orang,  or  the  orang  and  the  gibbon.  I  say  not  less  sharp,  though  it  is  some- 
what narrower.  The  structural  differences  between  man  and  the  man-like  apes 
certainly  justify  our  regarding  him  as  constituting  a  family  apart  from  them  ; 
though,  inasmuch  as  he  differs  less  from  them  than  they  do  from  other  families  of 
the  same  order,  there  can  be  no  justification  for  placing  him  in  a  distinct  order. 

This  Huxley  said,  despite  the  fact  that  the  brain  of  the 
gorilla  is  only  about  half  the  size  of  the  human  brain.      He 


86        HEREDITY,  HEALTH,  AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

shows  that  the  difference  in  volume  of  the  cranial  cavity  in  dif- 
ferent  races  of  mankind  is  greater  absolutely  than  that  between 
the  lowest  man  and  the  highest  ape,  while  relatively  about  the 
same.  The  largesl  human  skull,  be  says,  measured  by  Dr.  Mor- 
ton, of  Philadelphia,  the  craniologist,  had  very  nearly  double  the 
rapacity  of  the  smallest  healthy  human  skull, — a  far  greater  dif- 
ference than  that  between  the  smallest  healthy  human  skull  ami 
the  skull  of  the  largest  gorilla.  Ami  he  had  found,  in  addition 
to  this,  that,  in  the  fact  of  the  anthropoid  apes  possessing  true 
although  imperfect  feet,  opposable  th  urn  Its,  similar  dentition,  and 
similar  internal  organs  to  those  of  man,  the  belief  is  warranted 
that  they  belong  to  the  same  order  with  him. 

So  convinced  (.lid  Huxley  remain  of  the  justness  of  his  con- 
clusions that,  in  1874,  he  repeated  them  in  these  words: — 

In  view  of  these  facts,  I  do  not  hesitate,  in  this  year  1874,  to  repeat  and 
insist  upon  the  proposition  which  I  enunciated  in  1863.  So  far  as  cerebral  struc- 
ture eroes,  therefore,  it,  is  clear  that  man  differs  less  from  the  chimpanzee  or  the 
oralis  than  these  do  even  from  the  monkeys,  and  that  the  difference  between  the 
brain  of  a  chimpanzee  and  of  man  is  almost  insignificant  when  compared  with 
that  between  the  chimpanzee  brain  and  that  of  a  lemur. 

Dr.  Maudsley  remarks,  in  his  work  on  "Body  and  Mind," 

speaking  of  the  action  of  an  idiotic  woman  : — 

Was  it  really  the  re-appearance  of  a  primitive  instinct  of  animal  nature, — 
a  faint  echo  from  a  far-distant  past,  testifying  to  a  kinship  which  man  has  almost 
outgrown  or  has  grown  too  proud  to  acknowledge  ?  No  doubt  such  animal  traits 
an-  marks  of  extreme  human  degeneracy,  but  it  is  no  explanation  to  call  them  so; 
degenerations  come  by  law,  and  are  as  natural  as  natural  law  can  make  them. 
.  .  .  .  Summing  up,  as  it  were,  in  itself  the  leading  forms  of  the  vertebrate 
type,  there  is  truly  a  brute  brain  within  the  man's;  and  when- the  latter  stops 
short  of  its  characterise  development  as  human, — when  it  remains  arrested  at 
or  below  the  hvil  of  an  orang's  brain, — it  may  be  presumed  that  it  will  mani- 
fest its  most  primitive  functions,  and  no  higher  functions We  need 

not,  however,  confine  our  attention  to  idiots  only.  Whence  come  the  savage 
snarl,  the  destructive  disposition,  the  obscene  language,  the  wild  howl,  the  offen- 
sive habits,  displayed  by  some  of  the  insane?  Why  should  a  human  being,  de- 
prived of  his  reason,  ever  become  so  brutal  in  character  as  some  do  unless  he  has 
the  brute  nature  within  him  i 

In  Darwin's  work,  on  the  "Expression  of  the  Emotions," 

he  shows  that  the   mute   expressions  of  man  and  of  some  of 


man's  physical  place  in  nature.  87 

the  lower  animals  throughout  all  the  world  are  fundament- 
ally the  same.  No  matter  how  different  the  races  or  sub- 
species of  man,  they  all  express  emotion  in  the  same  manner. 
And  from  this  fact,  taken  in  connection  with  another  fact  (of 
the  enormous  divergence  of  those  races  in  every  particular, 
— mental,  moral,  and  physical),  he  justly  deduces  the  con- 
clusion that  they  must  all  be  derived  from  some  single  stock, 
which  must  have  been  almost  human  in  structure,  and  largely  so 
in  mind,  before  the  races  diverged  from  each  other.  That  this 
wondrous  conformity  among  races  so  dissimilar  could  have  been 
acquired  through  independent  lines  of  descent  seemed  to  him 
incredible.  Yet,  as  he  justly  says,  that  very  incredible  thing 
must  have  happened  if  the  different  races  of  men  have  descended 
from  several  originally  distinct  species. 

That  man  is  not  supposed  by  any  naturalist  to  belong  to  the 
same  species  as  does  the  chimpanzee  or  the  gorilla  must  be  evi- 
dent to  everybody.  "Where  does  he  belong  in  the  animal  king- 
dom ?  No  one  can  deny  that  he  belongs  to  the  kingdom  of  ani- 
mals, to  the  sub-kingdom  of  vertebrates,  and  to  the  class  of 
mammals.  Why  should  he  then  object  to  go  into  the  next 
division, — the  order  of  primates, — with  the  anthropoid  apes  and 
other  forms,  and  demand,  as  a  solitary  genus,  an  order  all  to 
himself  for  his  representation  in  nature  ? 

His  preference  is  simply  a  matter  of  prejudice  derived  from 
education,  which  will  be  entirely  removed  before  mai^  3-ears 
elapse.  Man  has  so  looked  upon  and  worshipped  himself  as  a 
demigod,  in  his  be-crowned,  be-gartered,  and  otherwise  decorated 
conditions,  down  to  the  very  people,  which  regards  its  voice  as 
the  will  of  God,  that  he  finds  it  hard  to  descend  from  his  throne. 
Yet  reason,  the  highest  throne  which  he  can  ever  occupy,  should 
tell  him  that  whence  he  came  is  of  little  moment  compared  with 
what  he  is,  whither  he  tends,  and  what  is  to  be  his  destiny.  What 
difference,  except   for  the  better,  does  it  make   to   him   if  he 


88  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   TERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

believes  that  be  is  derived  not  from  dust, but  from  some  low  form 
of  life?  Dust  forms  no  term  of  comparison  between  a  pristine 
and  a  present  state  of  existence.  All  things  being  possible  with 
God,  man  could  :is  well  have  been  created  out  of  nothing  as  out 
of  dust,  and  might  have  been  created  thus,  such  as  gradual 
development  might  otherwise  have  formed  him.  If,  however, 
lie  did  but  know  that  what  most  comports  with  his  dignity 
is  recognition  of  the  truth,  and  if  it  be  given  him  to  perceive 
in  at  least  one  point  the  grade  from  which  he  has  risen,  he 
possesses  a  term  of  comparison  which  may  well  entitle  him  to 
look  forward  to  the  future  of  the  race  as  of  relative  splendor 
almost  inconceivable. 


M 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PHENOMENA   OF   EVOLUTION    IN    THE   PRESENT   ERA. 

AN  has  long  been  known  as  an  anthropomorphic  being, 
one  who  has  fashioned  God  after  his  own  mental  and 
moral  attributes,  who,  according  to  a  doctrine  which  may  now 
be  considered  beyond  resurrection,  doubtless  growing  out  of 
literal  construction  of  words  in  Genesis,  once  even  went  the 
length  of  believing  that  God  is  of  human  form.  Yet  it  ought 
to  be  evident  that  man  can  be  in  only  a  very  different  and  in 
an  infinitely  remote  sense  made  after  God's  image  and  likeness. 

The  degree  to  which  man  has  shown  his  anthropomorphism 
has  never  been  partially  realized  until  the  present  centuiy,  when 
science  for  the  first  time  showed  that  even  the  limited  part  of 
creation  around  him  on  earth  was  not  made  exclusively  for  his 
delectation,  but  that  the  lowliest  animals  are  organized,  not  as 
ministers  to  his  needs  and  pleasures,  but  with  reference  to  their 
own  well-being.  Even  the  insects,  the  aphides,  which  seem  to 
be  the  veriest  slaves  to  their  ant-masters,  who  milk  them  of 
their  nutritive  juices,  are  really  so  organized  that  it  is  as 
agreeable  to  them  to  be  milked  as  to  their  masters  to  milk 
them. 

The  theor}r,  accepted  for  ages,  that  all  things  on  earth  had 
been  made  for  the  behoof  of  man,  would  have  received  a  rude 
shock  if  it  had  been  pushed  to  its  logical  conclusion.  Wild 
animals  drew  for  a  long  period  quite  a  large  amount  of  suste- 
nance from  his  capture.  Within  easjr  recollection  the  tiger  in 
India,  and  the  lion  in  North  Africa,  have  depopulated  whole 
districts,  while  the  death-rate  in  India  from  poisonous  snakes 
reached,  in  1877,  the  frightful  number  of  16,777  persons.  The 
familiarity  of  insects,  too,  with  the  delicate  cuticle  of  man  was 

(89) 


90  HEREDITY,    IIEALTII,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

not  conducive  to  his  claim  to  being  sole  lord  of  creation,  seeing 
that  the  insignificant  creatures  drive  him  out  of  sonic  parts  of 
the  world,  and  that  his  precautions  must  he  ceaseless  to  keep 
them  even  out  of  his  bed.  Unavailingly,  however,  was  all  this, 
as  patenl  :is  it  is  now,  until  science  proved  conclusively  that 
every  creature  had  been  created  solely  for  its  own  good.  Now, 
despite  the  fact  that  some  books  on  natural  history  for  the 
young  si  ill  maintain  the  old  point  of  view,  as  that  the  bee,  for 
instance,  was  made  to  place  in  hives  along  hedge-rows,  as  the 
producer  of  food  for  man,  the  fountain-heads  of  knowledge  How 
in  other  directions,  and  will  soon  leave  dry  these  stagnant  pools 
of  information. 

Man  stood  at  one  time,  in  his  own  estimation,  in  the  centre 
of  all  things.  Not  only  did  the  sun  and  moon,  according  to  his 
wa}'  of  thinking,  roll  around  him,  to  give  him  light  by  day  and 
night,  but  the  whole  starry  firmament,  containing  suns  which 
dwarf  our  central  luminary  b}^  comparison,  also  rolled  around 
him,  to  shape  the  horoscope  of  his  natal  da3rs,  and  to  charm  his 
fanc}^  with  imaginings  of  music  of  the  spheres,  while  comets 
and  eclipses  senred  no  other  purpose  but  that  of  portents  and 
presages  of  his  fate.  Science  has,  certainly,  if  it  has  done  nothing 
more,  accomplished  a  good  work  in  taking  man  down  a  few  pegs 
in  his  own  estimation.  He  is  still,  even  in  the  midst  of  a  level- 
ing civilization,  sufficiently  pulled  up  in  his  own  estimation;  but 
he  is  now  modesty  itself  compared  with  his  former  self,  although 
he  is  far  more  worthy.  It  is  comparatively  a  mere  trifle  to  cul- 
minate as  he  now  does  in  mutual  admiration  societies,  in  Eng- 
lish, French,  German,  New  England,  and  other  dinners,  where 
he  worships  himself  through  his  forefathers.  At  least,  he  has 
happily  lost  the  supreme  arrogance  with  which  he  once  perched 
on  the  summit  of  things,  and  crowed  his  contentment  at  having 
reached  the  pinnacle,  for  he  has  now  set  himself  to  learn  what 
he  thought  he  knew. 


PHENOMENA    OF    EVOLUTION    TN    TIIK    I'RESKNT    EltA.  91 

The  perception  of  evolution  of  all  existing  things  is  ever 
obscured  through  lack  of  perspective.  Happy  would  it  l>e, 
however,  if  such  parts  as  are  faintly  visible  could  be  viewed  and 
described  as  they  seem,  without  the  everlasting  suspicion  that 
its  portrayal  indicates  desire  to  praise  at  the  expense  of  the 
present  the  times  that  are  past.  To  declare  any  one  a  praiser 
of  by-gone  times  is  supposed  by  the  unthinking  to  constitute  an 
unanswerable  argument,  praise  of  anything  that  is  past  being 
supposed  to  convey  disparagement  of  everything  in  the  present. 
Of  such  airy  nothings  are  the  words  which  often  present  them- 
selves as  reason.  But  let  it  be  noted  that,  to  deride  one  who 
praises  things  of  the  past,  as  compared  with  certain  phases  of 
the  same  things  within  the  present,  implies  that,  in  all  things, 
at  every  period,  the  world  has  progressed  up  to  that  point  in 
everything,  and  never  has  in  anything  retrograded,  and  this  is 
an  untenable  proposition,  as  can  be  proved  by  the  single  in- 
stance of  the  Dark  Ages,  covering  a  multitude  of  retrogres- 
sions. A  bird's-eye  view  of  present  civilization,  while  it  shows 
us  an  aggregate  of  wide-spread  liberality  of  thought,  and  of 
tenderness  for  the  weak  and  oppressed  and  suffering,  and  of  in- 
dividual and  organized  effort  for  succor  and  relief,  shows  us 
also  at  the  foundation  of  society  a  weakness  of  principle  in  finan- 
cial matters  unknown  within  historical  times,  and  simultaneously 
a  loosening  of  the  family  tie,  associated  with  an  erotic  license 
with  which,  whether  as  cause,  effect,  or  concomitant,  it  goes 
hand  in  hand.  If  it  be  ever  possible  to  reach  perception  of 
effect  as  derived  from  cause,  it  would  seem  here  as  if  the 
greatest  of  all  the  agencies  at  work,  amid  the  multifarious  ones 
that  go  toward  producing  any  effect,  is  the  sudden  influx  of 
wealth  and  luxury  to  thousands  of  persons,  who,  reared  in 
penury,  or  in  the  most  modest  circumstances,  could  not  safely 
reach  at  a  bound  suddenly  changed  conditions.  Although 
not  generally  recognized,  here  is  plainly  to  be  seen  the  working 


92  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

of  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  for  luxury  has  its 
victims  from  prodigality  of  all  sorts,  in  health  and  money,  who 
go  down  in  the  hattle  of  life  as  surely  stricken  as  in  war. 

At  a  time  when  the  greatest  general  sense  of  justice  that 
has  ever  been  exhibited  is  engaged  in  ameliorating  the  condition 
of  the  poor,  declaring  that  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire,  and 
philanthropy,  going  beyond  this,  seeks  to  educate  him,  and  to 
succor  him  when  needy  and  when  sick,  the  laborer  himself,  in 
instances  so  numerous  as  to  tend  to  repress  the  sympathy  which 
has  gone  out  toward  him,  makes  claims  and  demonstrations  of 
force  which  have  on  occasions  paralyzed  the  industries  by  which 
he  lives,  and  withdrawn  from  the  coffers  of  the  State  moneys 
for  whose  reimbursement  he  must  contribute  from  his  scanty 
stock.  In  this  country,  America,  where  the  shoes  in  which 
men  walk  freety  are  so  big  that  they  never  pinch, even  organized 
anarchy  has  presumed  to  take  disruptive  part  against  a  gov- 
ernmental scheme  which  it  had  not  part  nor  lot  in  framing, — a 
governmental  scheme  which  professes  to  permit  to  every  man  to 
become  that  to  which  he  is  entitled  by  nature  and  his  own 
deserts. 

In  this  democratic  America,  where  only  a  few  years  ago  the 
tail  of  the  British  lion  used  to  be  twisted  on  the  Fourth  of  July 
and  other  high-days  and  holidays,  and  the  public  prints  never 
tired  of  descanting  on  effete  European  monarchies  and  the  ab- 
surdities of  titular  rank,  valuable  invoices  of  American  girls 
yearly  go  to  supply  foreign  needs,  so  that  the  day  may  come 
when  the  New  Zealander,  sitting  on  the  broken  arch  of  London 
bridge  to  view  the  ruins  of  St.  Paul's,  ma}'  find  among  the 
neighboring  drift  a  stratum  rich  in  specimens  of  an  extinct 
female  American  type,  associated  with  collapsed  mone3T-bags, 
while  the  opposite  shores  of  the  Atlantic  may  show  contempo- 
raneous deposits  of  banjos  and  microcephalous  dudes.  These, 
mingled  with  crania  evidencing  a  highly-intellectual  status  of 


PHENOMENA   OF    EVOLUTION   IN    THE   PRESENT    ERA.  93 

present  dwellers  on  the  soil,  will  be  the  puzzle  and  despair  of 
the  future  geologist  to  account  for  their  presence  in  the  midst 
of  an  evidently  advanced  civilization. 

The  family  which,  in  modern  society,  is  the  pillar  of  the 
State,  weakens,  while  the  State,  democratic,  republican,  or  what 
not,  goes  on  toward  centralization  of  power,  and  tends,  by  be- 
coming more  and  more  paternalby  protective  to  the  individual, 
to  render  him  less  independent,  and  consequently  less  free.  The 
unthinking  masses,  while  clamoring  for  all  that  government  can 
give,  little  think  that  they  are  bartering  away  their  birth-right. 
This  is  a  recession  from  better  principles,  and  looks  backward 
toward  Greece  and  other  ancient  countries,  where  the  individual 
was  merged  in  and  had  no  other  existence  than  for  the  State. 
It  is  difficult  to  see  it  as  a  healthy  sign  in  the  State,  when  gov- 
ernment is  like  a  gambling  scheme,  where  in  defeat  or  victory 
the  chief  gain  is  not  for  the  people,  as  against  the  owners  of  the 
bank.  The  times  of  Louis  XIII  were  not  pleasant  for  the 
people ;  the  king  was  really  the  State  long  before  Louis  XIV 
proclaimed  it ;  but  they  were,  at  least,  consistent  in  not  pretend- 
ing that  government  signified  anything  else  than  that  the  people 
should  be  despoiled.  If  one  must  be  ruled  b}^  tyrants,  instead 
of  hj  the  people  for  the  people,  better  than  a  bloated  tribune  is 
kingly  prerogative  amid  the  pomp  and  elegance  of  a  court,  for 
nothing  is  more  terrible  than  vulgar  tyranny. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  it  is  absurd  to  say  or  imply,  at  any 
period  of  the  human  race,  that  all  things  are  everywhere,  in 
every  respect,  better  than  thej7  have  ever  been.  We  must  be  able 
to  recognize  the  fact  that,  in  the  moral  world  as  well  as  in  the 
organic  and  inorganic  worlds,  evolution  is  an  unrelenting  process, 
and,  as  represented  in  any  individual  place,  may  be  progressive 
or  retrogressive. 

All  that  we  can  intimately  know  of  the  effects  of  evolution 
is  comprehended  by  earth,  and  here  we  perceive  general  progress, 


04  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL    BEA1  TV. 

not  only  in  the  intellectual  and  the  moral,  but  also  in  the  physi- 
cal, world;  but  it*  we  are  observant  Ave  ought  also  to  see  retro- 
gression and  apparent  pause, according  to  the  rhythmical  law  to 
which  all  things  are  subject.  The  great  moral  advance,  regarded 
as  a  whole,  that  has  been  made  on  earth  is  to  be  frankly  acknowl- 
edged. But  do  not,  therefore,  let  us  stultify  ourselves  through 
self-satisfaction,  by  proclaiming,  in  the  face  of  facts,  that  we  are 
better  than  we  are,  in  all  respects  better  than  our  immediate 
progenitors.  Let  ns,  however  repugnant  to  our  self-love,  recog- 
nize that  if  Ave  have  got  rid  of  some  of  their  vices,  they  possessed 
some  virtues  in  which  we  hardly  equal  them,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  is  permissible  to  us  to  take  credit  to  ourseh'es  for  a  com- 
prehensiveness in  the  lines  of  our  advance  which  they  never 
approached; 

It  is  thus  perceived  that  not  in  the  physical  world  alone,  but 
in  the  mental  one  also,  as  represented  Iry  the  individual,  family, 
social  circle,  and  nationality,  development  in  infinite  directions, 
in  the  present  era  generally  upward,  continuously  influences  life. 
The  foi-ce  at  work  acts  in  obedience  to  an  unremitting  natural 
law,  controlling  all  physical,  mental,  and  moral  affairs,  not  only 
on  earth,  but,  as  we  kaA^e  reason  to  belieA'e,  throughout  the  whole 
universe.  The  only  apparently  modifying  influences  to  its  action 
on  earth  are  the  intelligence  and  the  will  of  man ;  but  these  are 
not  antagonistic  influences,  for  the}',  too,  are  factors  in  the  grand 
total,  contributing  their  quota  to  the  consequences  of  the  work- 
ing of  this  universal  law.  Controlling  all  being,  it  necessarily 
includes  health  and  beauty,  and  all  else  that  appertains  to 
mankind. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   SENTIMENT   OF   THE   BEAUTIFUL. 

HALF  the  arguments  in  the  world  arise  and  persist,  because 
each  side  does  not  know  exactly  what  the  other  is  driving 
at,  and  very  nearly  the  other  half,  because  one  does  not  itself 
know.  With  this  solemn  warning  before  us,  an  instant's  thought 
will  be  well  taken  to  reach  an  agreement  as  to  what  is  to  be  here 
understood  by  the  term  beauty.  In  this  best  of  all  possible 
worlds  one  can  never  tell,  unless  personally  acquainted  with  his 
interlocutor,  at  what  tangent  he  may  go  off.  It  has  even  hap- 
pened, when  the  question  of  beauty  was  on  the  tapis,  that  some 
one  has  asserted  that  the  supremely  good  is  the  supremely  beau- 
tiful. This  is  worse  than  puerile,  for  we  know  nothing  of  perfec- 
tion of  any  sort  except  as  a  transcendental  idea,  and  our  notion 
of  perfection  in  morality,  as  expressed  in  terms  of  the  beautiful, 
is  only  figurative,  a  notion  derived  from  our  constant  comparison 
of  objects  of  beauty  in  the  sensuous  order  of  things.  To  do 
this,  therefore,  is  to  be  guilty  of  the  absurdity  of  attempting  to 
define  the  unknown  in  terms  of  the  unknown,  and  not  only  that, 
but  the  unknown  in  terms  of  the  unknown  in  an  entirely  different 
category,  confounding  the  sensible  with  the  supersensible 
world. 

What  is  here  intended  to  be  understood  "by  the  term  beauty 
is  the  beauty  that  is  recognized  by  the  senses,  sensuous  beaut}'; 
and  although  the  touch  has  had  its  share  in  educating  that  per- 
ception, reference  is  here  to  be  made  soleby  to  the  beauty  which 
is  perceived  by  the  eye.  The  limitation  must  be  made  still  more 
strict,  and  therefore  it  becomes  necessary  to  say  that,  although 
occasion  will  presently  arise  for  using  illustrations  which  do  not 

apply  to  personal  beauty,  yet  it  is  to  personal  beauty,  as  our 

(95) 


96  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

ultimate  objective  point,  that  the  attention  of  the  reader  is 
directed. 

Here  one  without  experience  would  suppose  that  all  possible 
stumbling-blocks  to  agreement  would  have  been  swept  away; 
but  not  so,  tor  there  are  persons  who  have  contended  that  beauty 
does  not  exist  in  any  object,  but  is  in  the  eye  of  the  beholder. 
The  argument  used  in  favor  of  this  view  is  that  the  taste  of  indi- 
viduals, from  the  savage  and  barbaric  to  the  civilized,  varying  so 
enormously  as  to  what  constitutes  beauty,  proves,  by  the  absence 
of  a  general  criterion  for  excellence  of  the  thing,  that  the  thing 
itself  cannot  exist.  But  as  a  parallel  argument  in  other  matters 
would  be  regarded  as  entirely  fallacious,  it  is  strange  that  this 
should  ever  have  been  advanced  as  a  valid  one  on  this  subject. 
For  if  there  is  anything  which  is  recognized  by  the  enlightened 
races  of  mankind  it  is  the  difference  in  quality  of  mentality  in 
range  from  the  civilized  and  enlightened  to  the  savage  and  bar- 
baric races.  Would  any  one  presume  to  say  that  there  is  no 
difference  between  the  music  of  a  Beethoven,  a  Mozart,  or  a 
Wagner  and  the  tomtoming  and  banjoing  of  a  savage  composer  ; 
that  the  difference  lies  merely  in  the  ear  of  the  listener?  Why, 
Helmholtz  has  shown  not  only  the  cause  of  the  difference  be- 
tween a  musical  note  and  a  note  that  is  a  mere  noise,  but  has 
also  shown  what  it  is  among  musical  notes  themselves  that 
makes  difference  in  the  quality  of  sounds ! 

All  educated  persons  are  agreed  that  that  being  which  is 
physically  most  highly  differentiated,  that  being  in  which  there 
is  the  greater  division  of  physiological  labor,  is,  relatively  to 
another  being  not  so  highly  differentiated,  the  superior.  The 
principle  is  the  same,  whether  we  consider  the  structure  repre- 
sentative of  a  faculty,  or  we  consider  the  faculty  which  may 
elude  revelation  in  the  mechanism  of  a  structure.  The  principle 
declares  broadly  that  that  which  is  most  highly  organized  has 
the  highest  perceptions.     The  Germans,  to  continue  our  illustra- 


THE   SENTIMENT   OF   THE   BEAUTIFUL.  1)7 

tion,  possess,  as  a  race,  the  highest  musical  faculty  among  man- 
kind, and  next  come  the  Italians.  Other  civilized  peoples  have 
enough  to  enable  them  to  appreciate  the  fact,  but  the  savage 
cannot  rise  to  the  perception  of  even  the  lowest  civilized  form 
of  the  manifestation  of  the  faculty.  Is  there  no  sensuous 
beauty  because  a  man  born  blind  cannot  see  it?  Is  there  none 
because  the.  mentally  purblind,  through  only  partial  recognition 
of  it,  differ  in  criterion  from  those  who  are  mentally  more 
advanced  ? 

It  has  been  truly  said  that  no  one  can  see  Greece  unless  he 
takes  Greece  with  him;  that  is,  unless  his  mind  is  so  imbued  with 
the  ancient  literature  and  life  of  Greece  that  he  thus  has  acquired 
an  insight  which  no  ordinary  man  can  possess.  So,  too,  we  may 
say  of  all  perception  in  nature  and  art.  Race,  mental  ability, 
culture,  opportunity  for  comparison,  all  that  goes  to  make  dif- 
ference between  man  and  man,  goes  also  to  make  difference  of 
taste  in  beauty.  Beauty  remains  the  same,  while  taste  differs 
indefinitely.  But  taste  does  not  differ  more  than  does  mankind. 
Given  similar  faculties,  physical,  mental,  and  moral,  and  the 
same  surrounding  conditions,  and  taste  in  the  beautiful  would 
be  similar  among  mankind.  It  would  never  be  exactly  the  same, 
even  in  any  one  community,  for  every  man  brings  to  his  feelings 
and  his  judgments  his  own  identity  and  life  experiences,  which 
can  never  be  exactly  like  those  of  any  one  else  ;  but  the  criterion 
would  be  essentiall}7  the  same,  which  is  all  that  is  contended  for 
in  attempting  to  show  that  the  absence  of  a  world-wide  criterion 
is  no  valid  argument  against  the  intrinsic  existence  of  beauty. 
It  is  not  that  beaut}''  does  not  exist  that  men  differ  about  it,  but 
because  the}r  themselves  differ  in  organization  and  in  all  sur- 
rounding conditions,  that  there  is  no  universal  criterion  for  it. 
One  of  the  best  evidences  of  the  correctness  of  this  view  is  that 
the  world,  assimilating  more  and  more  through  modern  travel,  is, 
despite  its  complexity,  becoming  more  and  more  uniform  in  taste. 


93  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY., 

Observe  the  bearing  of  another  consideration  upon  the  truth 
of  this  conclusion.  The  earth  lias  evidently  not  changed  in 
scenery  since  ancient  times,  and  yet  it  is  admitted  by  all  com- 
petent judges  that  love,  and  therefore  presumably  knowledge,  of 

the  picturesque  belongs  only  to  the  moderns.  The  view  is  doubt- 
Less  correct,  although  there  is  a  tendency  to  exaggerate  it.    It  is 

difficult  to  believe  that  the  Greeks,  a  race  which  peopled  every 
lakelel  and  stream  and  wood  with  nymphs;  which  had  its 
grottoes,  groves,  fountains,  and  nvysterious  caves;  the  race  in 
whose  contests  the  gods  themselves  took  part,  the  canopy  of 
heaven,  the  earth,  and  the  Plutonian  regions  the  scene  of  their 
exploits,  should  not  have  been  gifted  with  some  love  for  the  pic- 
turesque, as  we  know  them  to  have  been  supremely  for  the  beau- 
tiful. And  coming  closely  in  their  footsteps  on  earth  were  a 
people  who  are  seen  in  the  sunburst  of  art  which  shone  from 
Christianity  to  be  so  highly  gifted  with  the  sense  of  the  pic- 
turesque, that  we  cannot  suppose  them  to  have  been  suddenly 
endowed  with  it  as  a  concomitant  of  the  new  faith.  All  that  can 
be  said  with  certainty  is  that  the  love  of  the  picturesque,  to  the 
degree  in  which  we  now  perceive  it  to  be  manifested,  is  an  essen- 
tially modern  development.  Whence  comes  the  fact,  nature  hav- 
ing remained  essentially  the  same,  that  nature  must  contain  the 
beautiful  independent  of  the  seeing  eye.  Certain  grand  expres- 
sions in  nature  have  been,  as  the  record  shows,  appreciated  from 
the  earliest  times,  when  men  left  their  impress  in  literature.  Yet 
it  remained  until  quite  modern  times  for  men  fully  to  perceive 
the  picturesque, — one  of  the  phases  of  the  beautiful. 

"What  constitutes  the  picturesque  has  long  been  fruitful 
matter  of  discussion.  Ruskin  ascribes  it  to  ruggedness  of  line 
and  surface,  and  some  other  writers  to  perception  of  decay. 
That  neither  of  these  views  is  tenable  can  easily  be  settled  by 
any  reader  for  himself  by  many  illustrations  that  can  be  sum- 
moned from  his  own  experience.     That  the  picturesque  is  often 


THE    SENTIMENT   OF    THE   BEAUTIFUL.  99 

associated  with  broken  lines  and  surface,  and  also  with  ruins, 
taking  decay  in  that  sense  only,  is  undeniable ;  but  that  these 
elements  are  essential  to  it  can  be  disproved  by  the  commonest 
observation.  A  pretty  girl  may  be  highly  picturesque,  and 
surely  she  has  nothing  about  her  like  broken  lines  and  surfaces, 
or  ruin  and  decay.  We  have  ourselves  seen,  in  an  old  orange 
grove  planted  by  the  early  Spanish  settlers  in  Florida,  and  grown 
wild  with  arching  and  interlacing  boughs,  a  high  exemplification 
of  the  picturesque,  when  surely  the  lines  and  surfaces  were  not 
markedly  broken,  and  the  luxuriance  forbade  the  idea  of  ruin  or 
decay. 

In  fact,  despite  what  Ruskin  says  of  himself, — that  he  never 
enjoys  nature  so  much  as  when  perfectly  wild,  remote  from  sug- 
gestion of  the  presence  of  man, — it  is  not  clear  that  he  does  not 
deceive  himself  when  we  recall  that  scenes  in  which  the  idea  of 
the  picturesque  plays  the  greatest  part  are  suggestive  of  the 
presence  of  life.  It  is  to  the  point  of  the  picturesque  as  a  phase 
of  the  beautiful  that  reference  is  made.  Undoubtedly,  there  are 
many  scenes  on  earth  in  which  soaring,  snow-clad  mountain-peaks 
blend  with  the  sk}T  in  amethystine  tint,  where  the  beautiful  is 
engendered  in  association  with  the  grand,  the  awful,  or  the  sub- 
lime. But  it  is  not  of  the  beautiful  or  of  blended  effects  that  we 
are  speaking,  but  strictly  of  the  picturesque.  It  would  be  well, 
in  passing,  however,  to  note  that  even  in  these  it  is  still  life  that 
is  summoned  before  the  mind,  only  that,  in  this  case,  it  is  not 
life  animal  but  life  spiritual  that  rises  into  view. 

The  picturesque,  on  the  contrary,  relates  only  to  earthly 
life, — the  pleasant  highways  and  byways  of  human  existence. 
One  could  not  extract  a  sentiment  of  the  picturesque  out  of  a 
landscape  on  the  moon.  "Wide  expanse  of  plain  would  set  off 
cvaSSJ  escarpments  of  mountain  ranges  in  the  portentous  light 
and  shadow  of  a  region  without  atmosphere.  Over  the  whole 
waste,  blasted  by  alternate  heat  and  cold,  would  be  no  sign  of 


100  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

life,  nor  blade  of  grass,  nor  smallest  living  thing.  But  suppose-, 
instead  of  that,  we  choose  for  our  Bcene  the  Rhine.  Project  into 
it  a  bold  promontory,  rising  high  above  the  stream.  It  presents 
form  and  color,  light  and  shade,  and  yet  something  is  wanting  to 
the  completely  picturesque.  Crown  it  with  a  castle,  a  monastery, 
or  with  a  simple  hut,  and  it  becomes  more  picturesque,  because 
the  association  with  life  becomes  more  extended.  And  so  it  will 
be  found  true  of  the  whole  sphere  of  the  picturesque.  Why 
should  the  Rhine  be  more  picturesque  than  the  Hudson,  but  that 
its  shores  have  been  associated  with  the  life  of  barbaric  and 
civilized  man  for  centuries  ? 

If  the  picturesque  has  now  been  satisfactorily  demonstrated 
to  exist,  from  having  been  shown  to  be  a  discovery  of  compara- 
tively modern  times,  no  one  will  be  prepared  to  deny  the  real 
existence  of  that  which  must  include  it — the  beautiful. 

The  beautiful,  being  an  ideal,  excludes  the  presence  of  criti- 
cism. But  as,  of  course,  there  is,  in  reality,  so  far  as  human 
experience  goes,  nothing  ideally  beautiful,  we  are  constrained  to 
speak  of  that  which  wre  know  as  the  nearest  approach  to  our 
ideal  as  the  beautiful.  With  this  understanding  we  may  define 
the  beautiful  as  that  which  gives  to  contemplation  unalloyed 
pleasure. 

The  average  human  being,  adult  or  child,  has  far  greater 
capacity  for  synthesis  than  for  analysis,  and  hence  it  follows 
that  he  is  constantly  mistaken  as  to  the  character  of  his  emo- 
tions. In  point  of  fact,  so  difficult  is  it  from  the  complexity  of 
feelings  to  analyze  them,  that  the  majority  of  the  world  is  con- 
stantly deceiving  itself  about  what  it  imagines  itself  to  know 
best.  Pictures  of  weirdness,  power,  awfulness,  or  sublimity  are 
constantby  supposed  to  be  revelations  of  beauty  pure  and  simple, 
whereas  the  emotion  experienced  is  often  shown  by  its  source  to 
be  highly  complex,  compounded,  on  some  occasions,  far  less  of 
beauty  than  of  other  elements.     The  imagination  is  excited  by 


THE    SENTIMENT    OF   THE   BEAUTIFUL.  101 

many  things  besides  beauty,  and  the  mind  often  experiences 
under  the  stimulus  an  exaltation  derived  from  sources  in  which 
beauty  is  quite  subordinated.  Nowhere  is  this  error  of  judg- 
ment so  palpable  as  when  shown  in  expression  of  admiration  for 
the  beauty  of  the  dead.  Death  is  so  repugnant  to  life,  that  the 
dead  cannot  be  beautiful.  The  emotion  excited  in  the  mind, 
especially  by  the  dead  who  have  been  loved,  clouds  the  judgment 
as  to  the  character  of  the  emotion  experienced.  With  the  lost 
lines  of  petty  care,  the  face  sometimes  assumes  an  expression  of 
nobilit3r,  nay  of  majesty  itself.  But  the  satisfaction  thence 
derived  is  not  from  the  perception  of  the  beautiful ;  it  is  because 
the  sublime  has  entered  upon  the  scene.  Needless  it  ought  to  be 
to  say  that  this  awful  sublimity  is  incompatible  with  expression 
of  the  purely  beautiful.  The  real  character  of  the  sentiment 
awakened  by  the  presence  of  death  was  never  better  expressed 
than  in  the  lines  of  Burton  : — 

Here  lies  a  common  man.     His  horny  hands, 
Crossed  meekly  as  a  maid's  upon  his  breast, 
Show  marks  of  toil,  and  by  his  general  dress 
You  judge  him  to  have  been  an  artisan. 
Doubtless,  could  all  his  life  be  written  out, 
The  story  would  not  thrill  nor  start  a  tear  ; 
He  worked,  laughed,  loved,  and  suffered  in  his  time, 
And  now  rests  peacefully,  with  upturned  face, 
Whose  look  belies  all  struggles  in  the  past. 
A  homely  tale ;  yet,  trust  me,  I  have  seen 
The  greatest  of  the  earth  go  stately  by, 
While  shouting  multitudes  beset  the  way, 
With  less  of  awe.     The  gap  between  a  king 
And  me,  a  nameless  gazer  in  the  crowd, 
Seemed  not  so  wide  as  that  which  stretches  now 
Betwixt  us  two,  this  dead  one  and  myself. 
Untitled,  dumb  and  deedless,  yet  he  is 
Transfigured  by  a  touch  from  out  the  skies, 
Until  he  wears,  with  all-unconscious  grace, 
The  strange  and  sudden  Dignity  of  Death. 

In  short,  the  beautiful  is  that  which,  whether  in  nature  or 
art,  possesses  perfection  of  parts  harmonized  by  unity.  The 
picturesque,  on  the  other  hand,  is  that  lower  degree  of  beauty 


102  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

which,  although  lacking  unity,  still  possesses  such  pleasure- 
giving  elements  as  to  gratify  the  eye.  Is  it  not  undeniable  that 
the  picturesque  [a  more  soft  and  tender  in  its  action  upon  the 
sensibilities  than  is  the  purely  beautiful  ?  Is  not  the  beautiful, 
as  marly  ideal  as  we  know  it,  still  a  thing  so  cold  and  lofty  that 
it  does  not  affect  to  tenderness  as  does  the  picturesque?  Pain- 
less perception  must  be,  as  little  complex  as  is  possible,  for  them 
to  represent  truly  the  beautiful  and  the  picturesque. 

Having  now  discussed  the  principal  traits  of  the  beautiful 
and  the  picturesque,  it  will  be  the  most  gallant  thing  to  reserve 
for  the  following  chapter  the  subject  of  the  beauty  of  the  fair  sex. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   SOURCE   OF   THE   BEAUTY   OF   THE   FAIR   SEX. 

WE  wonder  if  it  has  ever  occurred  to  the  reader  to  imagine 
why  the  female  sex  happens  to  be  the  fair  sex.  If,  how- 
ever, he  or  she  has  read  attentively  the  second  chapter  of  this 
work,  at  least  a  shrewd  suspicion  must  have  been  awakened  that 
the  difference  might  be  derived  from  the  continuous  action  of 
sexual  selection. 

It  may  be  asked  why  it  is  not  the  male,  as  shown  in  that 
chapter  with  reference  to  the  lower  animals,  but  the  female, 
among  mankind,  which  is  the  handsomer  individual  of  those 
representing  the  sexes  ?  To  answer  that  will  require  study 
of  the  differences  in  the  lives  in  question,  and  in  the  conditions 
by  which  they  are  surrounded.  It  was  shown  in  that  second 
chapter,  through  a  sketch  of  the  amatory  lives  and  habits, 
principally  of  gallinaceous  fowls,  that  the  law  of  combat  chiefly 
determined  the  most  successful  mating,  and  therefore,  incident- 
ally, the  transmission  and  enhancement  of  certain  male  attributes 
to  the  males  of  the  brood.  Health  and  strength,  as  was  indi- 
cated, are  the  necessary  bases  of  courage  and  beaut}r.  It  was, 
therefore,  remarked  that,  in  the  long  run,  these  latter  must 
necessarily  predominate  in  the  broods  of  successful  suitors,  who, 
in  turn,  in  the  competition  with  others  not  so  highly  endowed, 
would  be  more  certain  than  the}^  to  transmit  their  attributes  in 
increasing  excellence  to  their  progeny. 

The  preference  by  females  among  these  animals  is  not  exer- 
cised in  the  same  way  as  among  human  beings.  The  male,  as 
belonging  to  a  species  of  the  lower  animals,  is,  as  he  is  not 
among  the  higher  races  among  human  beings,  unrestrainedly 
impulsive  in  sexual  attraction.     Through  that  impulsiveness  he 

(103) 


104  11KKK1HTY,    11KA1.TII,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

i-.  in  the  state  of  nature,  the  chooser  of  one  or  more  females,  not 
so  much  as  Individuals  as  belonging  te  the  aggregate  of  females 
whose  presence  excites  him  to  jealousy  and  battle  for  the  pos- 
session of  what  may,  so  to  speak,  be  culled  the  female  element 
of  nature,  irrespective  of  individuality.  In  a  word,  the  male,  in 
a  state  of  nature,  takes  ;i  female  or  females,  largely  as  such,  and 
cannot,  in  the  highest  sense,  be  said  to  select  them.  As  among 
the  males,  however,  there  is  the  sternest  competition  for  females 
as  such,  leading  to  fighting,  to  the  wounding,  defeat,  or  death 
of  adversaries,  and  as  preference  among  the  females  for  the  at- 
tributes possessed  h\  the  victors  is  inseparable  from  their  falling 
to  the  victors  as  the  reward  of  their  strength,  skill,  and  prowess, 
any  beauty  which  is  in  the  individual  victor, associated  in  varying 
degree  with  his  pugnacious  capacity,  conies  to  be  more  at- 
tractive to  the  female,  appreciated,  and  reproduced  by  her.  It 
is  transmitted  by  her  chiefly  to  the  male  portion  of  her  brood 
(for  it  is  of  male  attributes  of  which  we  are  speaking)  and  be- 
comes intensified  from  the  same  causes  in  successive  broods. 
And  hence  it  becomes  apparent  how  the  female  among  such 
birds,  and  relatively  among  animals  generally,  remains  com- 
paratively unadorned,  while  the  males  among  them  constitute 
fair  sex. 

Now.  analogous  causes  have  been,  under  entirely  changed 
conditions,  instrumental  in  bringing  it  about  that,  among 
mankind,  the  female,  and  not  the  male,  sex  is  in  many  places 
the  fair  sex.  The  female  sex  is  not  invariably,  even  among  man- 
kind, the  fair  sex.  Among  savage  peoples  the  women  are,  save 
a  favored  few  belonging  to  a  king  or  chief,  repressed  to  such 
a  degree  that  the  men  are  invariably  better  favored  in  lace  and 
form.  With  all  the  physical  disabilities  of  the  sex,  savage 
women  do  the  drudgery  of  the  tribe,  and,  even  when  the  men  are 
on  the  march,  are  compelled  to  bear  a  full  share  of  exhaust ing 
labor.     Child-bearing  and  the  cares  of  maternity,  added  to  this 


THE   SOURCE   OF    THE   BEAUTY    OF   THE   FAIR   SEX.  105 

weary  life,  leave  no  margin  for  the  acquisition  of  beauty.  They 
are  even  without  the  stimulus  of  the  tenderness  that  gives 
strength.  It  is  the  testimony  of  African  travelers  that  they 
never  saw  a  negro  caress  or  bestow  the  slightest  endearment 
upon  a  woman.  The  women,  bought  and  sold,  are  mere  beasts 
of  burden,  and,  without  being  always  slaves  in  name,  are  so  in 
effect  to  their  lords  and  task-masters.  Among  the  Indians  of 
this  continent  the  same  conditions  have  prevailed  from  time 
immemorial.  The  men  have  been,  as  they  are  in  Africa  to  this 
day,  warriors  and  huntsmen,  disdaining  labor,  who  have  shifted 
the  toil  of  daily  life  upon  the  shoulders  of  their  women.  Hence 
it  has  come  about,  from  two  causes,  that  the  men  are  physically 
superior  to  the  women.  Athletic  exercises  taken  in  the  open 
air,  especially  when  not  pursued  as  such,  are  the  most  conducive 
of  an}'  to  physical  development  and  lustiness.  The  women 
naturally  accept  the  protection  of  the  strongest  and  bravest  of 
the  tribe  whom  they  can  secure,  and  as  these  would  not  accept 
any  but  the  most  desirable,  this,  with  the  other  cause,  combines 
to  make  the  men  who  survive  as  the  fittest,  the  superiors  of  the 
"women  in  physical  endowments.  Savage  women,  therefore, 
with  the  exception  noted,  never  are  nor  can  be,  relatively  to  the 
men,  regarded  as  the  fairer  sex.  They  are  quite  in  the  position, 
with  regard  to  the  other  sex,  of  the  lower  animals.  What  is  so 
touching  about  Millet's  peasant  women? — the  revelation  of 
grinding  toil  b}~  their  rounded  shoulders  and  resigned  faces. 
This  same  pathetic  thing  represents  the  lot  of  most  savage 
women,  except  in  those  parts  of  the  earth  where  nature  has 
been  so  bountiful,  amid  strife  which  is  not  constant,  as  arnply  to 
supply  the  simple  wants  of  the  people. 

The  complexity  of  civilization  represents  conditions  radi- 
cally different  from  these.  Amid  them,  the  agencies  described 
reach  apparently,  but  not  really,  fundamentally  different  re- 
sults.    The  multiplicity  of  details  obscures  perception  of  the 


106  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

fad  that,  the  causes  at  work  being  the  same,  the  effects  will 
be  the  ones   to   be  expected    under  the   modified  conditions. 

Among  the  higher  races  of  mankind  the  female  sex  has  become 
the  fair  Bex  simply  because  men  have  combined  to  make  it  the 
fairer.     Wherever  possible  these  races  have  sought  to  relieve 

women  almost  entirely  of  labor.  Whole  classes  of  women 
among  them  have  nothing  to  do  that  can  be  called  labor,  let 
alone  toil.  Many  individuals  among  them  are  mere  human  but- 
terflies, flitting  from  flower  to  flower,  with  no  more  exercise 
than  suflicient  to  enable  them  to  sip  in  quickest  succession  the 
sweets  of  life.  That  this  is  for  their  best  good,  without  some 
ballast  for  their  airy  flight  through  life,  is  not  the  question  here; 
it  certainly  is  conducive  to  beauty.  Fresh  air,  exercise,  the 
best  food,  and  the  revivifying  influence  of  constant  change,  they 
have  ;  and  while  these  directly  promote  beaut}7,  the  absence  of 
care  is  the  greatest  cosmetic  in  the  world. 

In  this  complexity  of  conditions  represented  by  the  highest 
civilization,  the  pure  and  simple  attraction  of  the  sexes  for 
each  other  is  dominated  by  man}'  causes  known  in  but  slight 
degree,  if  at  all,  to  primitive  men.  Even  in  the  United  States 
the  conditions  of  sexual  relations  are  becoming  more  and  more 
complex,  as  time  goes  on  and  the  country  matures.  The  time 
was  when  the}'  were  almost  of  pastoral,  bucolic  simplicity.  The 
time  was,  only  about  fort}'  years  ago,  when  rich  men,  as  rich 
men  for  their  day  as  other  men  are  rich  for  the  present  day, 
lived  and  died  unknown.  Now,  almost  the  world  over,  no 
matter  what  an  old  hunks  a  man  may  be,  it  is  enough  for  him 
to  be  rich,  to  be  great.  The  idea  of  wealth,  the  idea  of  the 
desirability  of  wealth,  has  more  or  less  pervaded  all  ranks. 
The  resulting  social  condition  reminds  one  of  the  replies  of 
Dumas's  Jew  to  the  questions  of  the  High  Chancellor  of  France  : 
"  What  is  your  name?"  "  I  am  worth  twelve  millions."  "  What 
is  your  age  ?"     "  I  tell  you  I  am  worth  twelve  millions."    ''  Your 


THE   SOURCE   OF   THE   BEAUTY   OF   THE   FAIR   SEX.  107 

profession?"  "  Why,  do  you  not  understand?  I  repeat,  I  am 
worth  twelve  millions." 

This  commercial  spirit  of  the  times,  or  rather  the  contempt 
for  the  shop  associated  with  love  of  its  profits,  has  affected 
nothing  more  in  civilized  countries  than  the  relations  of  the 
sexes,  has  introduced  considerations  of  money  into  marriage, 
and  has  intensified  that  condition  abroad.  Even  collegians  and 
school-girls  may  be  heard  nowadays  calculating  their  material 
chances  in  the  monejr  market.  Worthy  considerations  as  these 
are,  when  kept  within  bounds,  they  have  now  reached  a  point 
where  they  are  often  too  influential  in  determining  choice. 
Despite  all  interests,  however,  romantic  love  sometimes  seizes 
two  creatures  in  a  whirlwind  of  passion  and  raises  them  to  the 
skies. 

In  addition  to  the  signal  and  undeniable  fact  of  the  change 
mentioned,  is  the  other,  more  potent,  overruling,  and  perennial 
fact,  which  more  largely  than  an}r  other  influence  determines 
marriage  and  the  increasing  beauty  of  the  female  sex,  through 
the  selection  by  men  of  those  most  agreeable  in  person,  to  the 
neglect  of  others.  The  love  of  the  beauty  of  the  female  sex  by 
the  opposite  sex  is  proved  not  only  by  choice  being  more 
largely  determined  by  that  than  bjr  smy  other  element;  it  is 
proved  also  by  the  sedulous  care  with  which  men  of  civilized 
races  guard  their  women  against  the  hardships  which  are  preju- 
dicial to  beauty.  On  the  contrary,  the  normal  woman,  ad- 
vanced beyond  the  bread-and-butter  age,  cares  little  for  male 
attributes,  except  such  as  indicate  strength  and  courage,  such 
as  constitute  manliness.  The  men  of  the  higher  races  have, 
from  the  earliest  times  of  which  we  know  anything,  worshiped 
the  beauty  of  the  other  sex,  and  that  sex  has  complacently  ac- 
cepted the  tribute  to  its  charms,  as  why  should  it  not?  Men's 
preference,  therefore,  having  always  been  for  those  individuals 
of  the  opposite  sex  whose  beauty  was  greatest,  the  result  has 


108  HFUKD1TY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

manifested  itself  not  only  in  wooing  and  wedding,  but  in  the 
inheritance,  in  ever-increasingly  greater  and  greater  degree,  by 
female  offspring  of  those  physical  attributes  which  made  the 
mothers  attractive.  All  this  implies  romantic  love,  relief  from 
burdensome  Labor,  and  freedom  from  the  care  of  providing  sub- 
sistence for  the  family;  all  of  which,  as  has  been  shown,  are 
conditions  favorable  to  the  creation  and  conservation  of  beauty. 

The  dissonance  produced  l>3r  absence  of  beauty-producing 
conditions,  when  the  forces  just  described  are  in  abeyance,  is 
exhibited  by  the  characteristics  of  strong-minded  women. 
With  them  the  natural  play  for  the  instincts  and  emotions  and 
energies  of  the  softer  sex  having  been  denied,  they  make  an 
order  of  beings  apart  from  the  attributes  of  either,  but  pertain- 
ing more  nearly  to  the  male  than  to  the  female  sex.  Sexual  selec- 
tion has  generally  stood  them  aside  from  relation  to  posterity. 
They  are,  for  the  most  part,  like  the  exceptional  species  of  which 
mention  has  been  made,  where  the  female  is  the  pugnacious 
element  of  the  conjugal  bond,  wears  the  comb,  spurs,  and 
hackles  of  the  opposite  sex,  and  the}'  are,  when  wedded,  like 
similarly  situated  individuals  of  that  species,  in  being  followed 
by  a  crest-fallen  mate,  distinguished  by  feminine  traits,  who 
brings  up  the  rear  of  all  things  in  the  battle  of  life. 

It  follows  from  what  has  been  said  that,  if  the  character  of 
the  higher  races  does  not  change,  and  the  physical  conditions 
on  earth  do  not  change,  and  it  is  improbable  that  they  will 
change  for  at  least  some  millions  of  3rears,  the  beauty  of  women 
will  go  on  increasing  for  a  long  time  to  come.  Ease  and  com- 
fort, as  a  whole,  enjoyed  by  civilized  peoples,  have  greatly  in- 
creased all  over  the  world  within  a  hundred  years,  and  as  they 
are  likely  still  further  to  increase,  beauty  will,  through  men's 
admiration  of  it,  combined  with  these  favorable  conditions,  go  on 
increasing  in  amount  and  degree,  and  become  proportionally 
prized.     Summing  up  all  the  agencies  at  work  among  the  higher 


THE  SOURCE  OF  THE  BEAUTY  OF  THE  FAIR  SEX.      109 

races  as  fruitful  of  increase  of  female  beauty,  we  may  well 
assume  its  further  great  development.  These  influences  are 
men's  devotion  to  it,  women's  lessened  labor  and  care,  tlieir 
higher  education,  and  their  social  development.  These  con- 
ditions must  produce  in  turn  romantic  love,  vigor  of  body,  and 
maintenance  of  youthful  appearance,  amiability  of  expression, 
and  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  graces  of  the  countenance;  all 
of  which,  in  the  aggregate,  will  mean  increased  beauty  for  the 
future. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   EFFECT    OF    ENVIRONMENT    AND    TRAINING   ON   THE   PHYSIQUE. 

IT  will  probably  appear  to  the  reader  as  if  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  any  marked  change  to  take  place  in  the  human  form 
during  the  short  space  of  even  the  longest  life-time.  But,  hap- 
pily, the  fact  can  be  readily  established  by  examination  of  prob- 
ably the  largest  body  in  existence  of  accurate  statistics  on  anj' 
one  subject. 

After  the  great  civil  war  in  America  was  over  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  made  a  compilation  of  remarkable 
surgical  and  other  matter,  and  collection  of  interesting  and  useful 
military  material  used  in  the  war.  Only  one  class,  however,  of 
that  statistical  information  is  that  with  which  we  have  special 
concern.  It  must  be  remembered  that,  as  the  information  was 
derived  from  investigations  relating  to  a  bocVv  of  men  numbering 
over  a  million,  the  idea  is  precluded  of  the  error  involved  in 
generalizations  from  a  few  cases.  The  object  of  the  introduction 
of  the  obtained  information  here,  and  some  other  which  will 
follow,  is  to  show  that,  if  certain  existing  but  not  imposed  con- 
ditions have  produced  determinate  results  on  the  body,  then  we 
have  it  in  our  power,  by  voluntarily  imposing  the  same  or  similar 
conditions,  to  reproduce  like  results. 

It  was  ascertained  that,  although  the  sailors  enlisted  in  the 
war  were,  as  a  class,  shorter  than  the  soldiers  as  a  class,  their 
legs  were  longer  than  those  of  the  soldiers  by  over  T2o  inch. 
Their  arms,  on  the  other  hand,  being  over  an  inch  shorter  than 
those  of  the  soldiers,  were  disproportionately  short  as  compared 
with  the  soldier  standard,  even  after  making  due  allowance  for  the 
difference  in  stature  between  the  two  classes.  The  sailors  meas- 
ured more  around  the  neck  and  less  around  the  waist  and  hips 

(111) 


112  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

than  did  the  soldiers,  and  the  sailors  had  higher  insteps  than  the 
Boldiers  had.     It  was  also  discovered  that  men  who  had  been 

bom  and  bred  in  the  Western  Stales  were  taller  than  those  horn 
and  bred  in  the  Eastern  States,  and  that  residence  in  cities  was 
prejudicial  to  height. 

Some  of  our  renders  may  he  of  sufficient  experience  to  be 
able  to  make  reflections  for  themselves  on  the  basis  of  the  points 
which  have  been  noted.  But,  assuming  that  all  have  not  that 
experience,  it  will  be  well  here  briefty  to  discuss  some  of  them. 
The  differences  between  the  sailors  and  the  soldiers  could  not 
have  arisen  from  changed  conditions  during  the  war,  for  measure- 
ments are  made  upon  enlistment.  The  facts  are  very  striking, 
however,  taken  as  the}'  stand,  showing  that  difference  of  occu- 
pation, with  a  slight  infusion  of  heredity,  can  produce  such  dif- 
ferences. AVe  sa}-  a  slight  infusion  of  hered^adviscdl}-,  because 
such  is  the  shifting  of  occupation  in  modern  times  of  son  from 
father  that  there  are  rarely  now,  as  formerly,  occupations  engag- 
ing even  two  successive  generations  of  a  family.  The  son  of  a 
sailor  or  of  a  soldier  may  he  anything  else,  and  is  more  likely  to 
follow  some  other  occupation  than  that  of  his  father.  The  sol- 
diers of  whom  we  are  now  speaking  were,  at  the  time  when  they 
enlisted,  not  soldiers  at  all.  At  that  period  of  time  they  repre- 
sented merely  landsmen  drawn  from  a  wide  extent  of  countiy,  and, 
to  a  certain  degree,  from  different  nationalities.  The  comparison, 
as  it  stood,  was  therefore  simpl}'  between  sailors,  who  are  neces- 
sarily professional,  and  landsmen,  who  at  that  period  were  not 
soldiers  nor  at  any  subsequent  period  professional  ones,  though 
many  became  veterans  as  fine  as  any  in  the  world.  Each  class 
therefore  had  acquired,  more  especially  during  the  youth  of  its 
component  individuals,  characteristics  wdiich  represent,  in  a  gen- 
eral way,  the  aggregate  effect  on  the  bod}-  of  occupation  on  land 
or  sea. 

It  was  observed  by  every  one  during  the  war  that,  excepting 


EFFECT   OF    ENVIRONMENT    AND   TRAINING    ON    PHYSIQUE.         113 

where  the  Confederates  were  pitted  against  Western  men,  their 
infantry  generally  outspeeded  the  Union  infantry  in  marching. 
Now,  although  one  obvious  reason  of  this  was  Unit  tliey  marched 
with  less  baggage,  there  is  still  a  large  margin  to  be  accounted 
for  by  the  assignment  of  some  other  cause.  It  seems  to  us  that 
familiarity  with  the  physique  of  the  Southerner  as  compared 
with  that  of  the  Northerner  explains  the  difference,  the  former 
being  long-limbed  and  spare  compared  with  the  latter,  and  on 
that  account  being  able  to  beat  the  soldiers  of  the  East  in  inarch- 
ing ;  while  he  found  his  match,  in  that  respect,  in  the  soldiers  of 
the  West. 

The  difference  between  the  Sioux  and  the  Apaches  in  the 
character  of  their  development  has  such  relation  to  their  physical 
surroundings  and  habits,  that  it  makes  one  of  the  best  possible 
illustrations  of  difference  of  form  produced  by  different  con- 
ditions. The  countiy  of  the  Apaches  is  not  adapted  to  riding: 
the  country  of  the  Sioux  is.  The  Apaches  have  but  few  horses 
and  are  not  known  as  riders,  while  the  Sioux  are  among  the  finest 
riders  in  the  world.  The  Apaches  are  long-legged,  spare,  and 
lithe,  and  indefatigable  on  their  feet ;  while  the  Sioux  are  com- 
paratively short-legged,  are  not  addicted  to  pedestrian  exercise, 
and  ride  like  centaurs.  An  officer  of  the  regular  army  once  de- 
scribed to  us  a  fight  which  his  company,  guarding  a  supply-train, 
had  had  on  the  plains  with  some  Sioux  seeking  to  capture  it. 
The  train,  closing  up  to  make  as  short  as  possible  the  line  to  be 
defended,  passed  slowly  and  steadily  along,  the  soldiers  taking 
shelter  in  squads  within  and  without  the  wagons,  while  from 
various  directions  troops  of  savages  came  thundering  down  upon 
them,  discharging  their  missiles,  receiving  the  volleys  in  return, 
rescuing  their  wounded,  and  wheeling  away  only  to  renew  their 
onslaught.  On  the  wide  sea  of  the  plain,  under  the  glittering 
sun,  the  slowly  moving,  stubborn!}'  defended  train,  the  masses 

of  horsemen  whirling  around  it  amid  the  crack  of  rifles,  pre- 

6 


114  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

sented  a  ravishing  spectacle  of  contrasted  movement,  in  which 
circled  the  splendid  horsemanship  of  a  thousand  mounted 
warriors. 

Generation  after  generation  these  braves  had  ridden,  so  that, 
like  the  Arabs,  horse  and  rider  had  come  to  be  almost  as  one. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Apaches,  generation  after  generation, 
have  wandered  afoot  through  the  fastnesses  of  their  region, some- 
times on  forced  marches  of  almost  incredible  severity,  in  which 
women  ami  children  as  well  as  men  share.  Hence,  Sioux  and 
Apaches  have  acquired  physical  attributes  strictly  in  accordance 
with  the  physical  conditions  surrounding  them.  The  Sioux,  big- 
chested,  robust,  and  comparatively  short-legged  ;  the  Apaches, 
long-legged  and  wiry  in  form,  illustrate  the  chief  differences  of 
those  conditions. 

A  striking  change  in  physique,  accomplished  within  a  brief 
period,  always  ensues  in  the  average  man  after  having  been  for 
some  time  subjected  to  military  drill.  If  at  the  point  of  de- 
parture he  happens  to  be  a  veritable  rustic,  he  becomes  a  dif- 
ferent being.  The  bumpkin  is  a  slouching,  shambling,  round- 
shouldered  wight.  He  is  not,  as  are  generally  the  city-bred, 
constrained  by  a  certain  degree  of  public  requirement ;  nor  is  he, 
like  them,  rigidly  subjected  to  a  large  amount  of  insensible  imi- 
tation. Nevertheless,  he  has  in  him  the  making  of  a  man,  and 
generally  of  a  physically  better  man  than  the  city  born  and  bred. 
What  he  needs  to  make  him  look  like,  as  well  as  be,  every  inch  a 
man  is  simply  to  be  "  set  up  "  by  drill  and  discipline.  In  coun- 
tries where  the  relations  are  just  between  officers  and  men,  he 
there,  as  the  common  soldier,  often  undergoes  through  drill  a 
favorable  change  in  physique  and  a  higher  tone  through  disci- 
pline. The  results  produced  bj  these  combined  agencies  is  trans- 
forming. From  a  shuffling  lout,  who  does  not  know  how  to  use 
the  limbs  which  nature  has  provided  him  with,  a  man  issues  forth 
whom  his  nearest  of  kin  can  scarcely  recognize. 


EFFECT   OF   ENVIRONMENT    AND   TRAINING    ON    PHYSIQUE.        115 

Where  discipline  and  drill  are  not  obtainable,  some  kind  of 
manual  and  evolutionary  movements  are  always  possible, and  for 
the  latter  dancing  is  far  better  than  nothing.  One  need  not  be 
a  specialist  in  anatomy  and  physiology  to  see  that  the  great 
changes  indicated  are  not  produced  without  profound  alterations 
in  the  structure  and  functions  of  the  body.  The  rounding 
shoulders  are  thrown  back,  the  shoulder-blades  disappear,  and, 
the  chest  expanding,  the  lungs  inhale  deeper  draughts  of  life- 
giving  air.  The  limbs,  especialty  the  legs,  move  with  greater 
freedom  Avithin  their  natural  bounds.  The  hands  become  more 
pliant,  adroit,  and  serviceable.  Bej^ond  all  that  can  be  thus 
specified  as  acquired,  is  co-ordination  of  parts  in  prompt  obedi- 
ence to  the  directive  mind  and  will.  This  makes  the  distinctive 
difference  between  the  halting  hesitanc}"  of  mind  and  bodv  in 
the  bumpkin,  and  the  alertness  of  mind  and  of  bodily  action  in 
the  city -bred. 

An  officer  of  the  regular  army  once  told  us  that  when  he 
first  went  to  West  Point  he  was  a  strapping,  awkward  youth,  so 
knock-kneed  that,  standing,  he  could  not  put  his  heels  together 
by  2  or  3  inches.  In  the  course  of  a  year  or  two,  however,  he 
said,  his  legs  had  become  perfectly  straight  through  the  influence 
of  foot  and  horseback  exercise.  We  can,  from  personal  obser- 
vation, vouch  for  the  accurac}r  of  his  observation  that  his  legs 
had  become  straight,  for  their  symmetry  was  so  admirable  as  to 
be  remarked.  There  once  came  under  our  direct  observation, 
in  a  boy  of  from  12  to  14  years  of  age,  such  a  change  from  being 
awkwardly  high-shouldered,  to  his  shoulders  being  rightly  placed, 
that  the  change  seemed  marvelous  ;  but  it  was  only  a  phenome- 
non of  development  under  favorable  conditions.    ■ 

Of  course,  similar  influences  to  those  which  favorably  affect 
the  form  in  the  male  sex  affect  it  also  in  like  manner  in  the 
female  sex.  Not  only  are  the  acquirements  of  each,  except 
those    which     are    distinctively   sexual,   transmitted    through 


116  gEREDlTY,    BEALTH,   AND    PERSONA!   BEAUTY. 

progeny  to  both  sexes,  but  the  general  conditions  which  pro- 
duce peculiarities  in  the  individuals  of  one  sex  occupying  a  cer- 
tain locality  produce  them  also  in  members  of  the  opposite  sex 
occupying  the  same  locality.  In  the  last,  paragraphs  the  figure 
and  shambling  gail  of  the  bumpkin  have,  boon  spoken  of  exclu- 
sively, because,  in  connection  with  him,  it.  was  desirable  to  illus- 
trate the  effect  of  drill  and  discipline.  But,  whatever  applies  to 
him  ami  to  others  of  his  sex  applies  in  essentials  also  to  corre- 
sponding individuals  of  the  female  sex,  although  in  loss  degree, 
because  the  love  of  pleasing  leads  among  women  of  all  ranks  to 
some  abatement  of  the  condition  of  partial  or  complete  indiffer- 
ence to  attitude  and  movement. 

In  the  first  chapter  we  have  spoken  of  the  singular  absti- 
nence among  country  people  in  America  from  exercise  afoot. 
In  the  present  connection  it  is  in  place  to  emphasize  the  fact  that 
all  that  applies  to  the  men  in  regard  to  posture  and  movement, 
as  being  conducive  to  health  and  beauty,  must  apply  to  women. 
As,  however,  the  next  chapter  is  to  be  devoted  especially  to  the 
movement  of  women  under  the  appropriate  idea  of  grace,  it  is 
necessaiy  here  only  to  remark,  before  resuming  the  theme  of 
change  of  form  within  limited  periods,  that  the  sole  difference 
in  the  applicability  of  what  is  said  on  these  topics  lies  in  the 
necessary  modifications  in  practice  appropriate  to  sex.  If  men 
drill,  so  should  girls  drill,  through  calisthenic  exercises,  includ- 
ing especially  the  cotillon  of  various  kinds.  All  calisthenic 
movements  executed  to  music  necessarily  have  a  rhythm  which 
cannot  otherwise  be  obtained,  the  bodily  movement  being  the 
visible  presentment  in  time  and  motion  of  the  unseen  influence. 
Description  of  what  constitutes  good  walking  is  also  deferred  to 
a  subsequent  chapter.  Walking,  to  be  good,  requires  practice, 
as  we  see  in  drill,  not  with  the  object  of  getting  over  ground, 
but  of  getting  over  it  properly,  so  that  locomotion  shall  eventu- 
ally become  through  habit  more  graceful  and  ell'ective.     One  of 


EFFECT   OF   ENVIRONMENT   AND   TRAINING   ON   PHYSIQUE.        117 

the  best  methods  for  women  to  learn  to  stand  and  move  grace- 
fully is  in  the  drill  effected  by  such  dances  as  the  minuet,  for- 
merly called  the  minuet  de  la  cour.  The  modern  dancing- 
master,  descended  from  the  high  authority  whieh  he  once  en- 
joyed, teaches  little  but  his  inefficiency.  If  he  can  get  two 
young  people  to  jiggle  and  tumble  around  a  room  together  in  the 
waltz,  he  flatters  himself  and  his  pupils  tiiat  mortal  man  can  do 
no  more  for  social  grace.  The  old-fashioned  dancing-master 
taught  them  to  walk,  to  bow,  and  how  to  enter  a  room.  His 
only  omission  was  in  not  telling  them  how  to  get  out  of  it,  which 
is  a  feat  so  much  more  difficult,  that  hosts  suffer  to  this  day  from 
its  inadequate  performance.  Although  a  person  would  be  as 
great  a  fool  to  abide  implicitly  by  the  teaching  of  a  dancing- 
master  as  to  dress  by  the  taste  of  his  tailor,  and  good  society 
never  did  nor  will  do  either,  yet  it  is  only  by  exaggeration  of 
movements  that  the  true  eventual  movement  can  be  learned,  the 
"  goose  step"  leading  to  good  marching,  and  the  strutting  of  the 
minuet  to  the  graceful  movement  of  a  lady  ;  for,  as  Pope  says, 
"  they  move  easiest  who  have  learned  to  dance."  They  cannot 
move  easily  unless  they  hold  themselves  well,  and  hence  posture 
is  indispensable  to  the  art  of  dancing,  which,  in  its  two  branches, 
posture  and  motion,  is.  intended  to  pervade  the  future  life  in 
healthful  ease  of  movement. 

To  resume  the  theme  of  change  of  form,  intermitted  during 
this  necessary  digression,  we  would  remark  that  one  of  the  most 
striking  illustrations  of  which  we  know,  of  rapid  ph}'sical 
change,  brought  about  by  changed  conditions,  was  that  witnessed 
soon  after  California  began  to  be  settled  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  In  1859,  San  Francisco  was  removed  only  ten 
years  from  a  time  as  celebrated  as  the  Argonautic  search  for  the 
golden  fleece,  from  the  time  when  the  men  who  still  proudly 
call  themselves  "  the  forty-niners,"  were  in  the  ascendant  in 
California.     At  that  time  San  Francisco  had  scarcely  departed 


118  11KKKIHTV.    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

from  the  aspect   of  those  very  modern  1  mt   apparently  remote 

days  which  Dana  described  in  his  "  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast." 
It  had  been  burned  down  twice,  and  had  arisen  from  its  ashes 
each  time  improved.  By  some  few  years  it  had  become,  in  1859, 
a  city  like  any  other  of  America,  as  well  paved,  lighted,  and 
otherwise  appointed  for  comfort.  There  adventurous  spirits  of 
all  sorts,  from  men  who  had  money  to  invest  to  those  who  had 
aothing  but  muscle,  had  congregated.  There,  on  the  streets  of 
San  Francisco,  the  lavish  Southerner,  the  penurious  Yankee, 
jostled  each  other,  while  the  Chinaman  scuttled  along,  only  too 
happy  to  escape  to  his  quarter  unmolested!  An  entirely  new 
condition  of  affairs  surrounded  most  of  the  denizens  of  the  place. 
Views  were  enlarged,  sympathy  and  helpfulness  were  unstinted, 
generosity  was  unbounded.  Men  who  had  been  brought  up  in 
the  narrowest  way  expanded,  body  and  soul.  The  new  genera- 
tion showed  the  greatest  possible  physical  improvement.  Under 
an  equable  temperature,  in  the  enjoyment  of  out-door  air  and 
exercise,  the  young  generation  had  such  arms  and  legs  and 
trunks  as  their  progenitors  had  never  dreamed  of,  and  this,  the 
blood  being  the  same,  came  about  from  simple  change  of  condi- 
tions. The  changed  conditions  were  numerous,  it  is  true,  but  so 
it  is  alwa}'S,  change  of  only  one  or  two  conditions,  with  change 
of  region  and  climate,  being  inconceivable. 

All  observers  agree  that  it  is  absurd  to  think  of  the  English 
as  being  in  physique  as  they  were  personally  well  known  to  our 
forefathers  to  be,  and  through  pictures  almost  equally  well 
known  to  us  to  have  been.  The  broad-visaged,  bluff  Englishman 
is  a  variety  of  man  which  has  rapidly  disappeared.  The  exigen- 
cies of  modern  times,  with  their  requirements  upon  the  nervous 
S3Tstem,  have  made  and  are  continuing  to  make  of  him  a  type 
more  nearly  approaching  the  American  than  any  other.  The 
same  effect,  from  the  same  and  additional  causes,  is  to  be  seen  in 
France.     The  t3-pe  of  the  haute  noblesse  has  almost  disappeared, 


EFFECT   OF   ENVIRONMENT    AND   TRAINING   ON    PHYSIQUE.        119 

and  with  it  the  air  of  distinction.  The  tendency  in  expression 
everywhere  is  toward  that  of  the  bourgeoisie.  Except  in  the 
remote  and  exclusive  atmosphere  of  the  Austrian  court,  distinc- 
tion of  air  and  manner  has  largely  disappeared.  It  is  notorious 
that  it  does  not  exist  in  Prussia,  except  in  the  military  form.  It 
is  everywhere  disappearing,  if  indeed  it  is  not  gone  already, 
engulfed  in  the  commercial  activit}'  engendered  by  the  demo- 
cratic spirit  of  the  age. 

Look  at  the  case  of  the  prognathous,  or  projecting-jawed, 
emigrants  who  often  land  in  New  York.  They  represent  the 
last  term  of  a  long  struggle  for  existence,  in  ignorance,  dirt, 
foul  air,  ill-housing,  and  overworking  for  generations.  They 
find  themselves  in  quite  changed  surroundings.  The  law  of 
natural  selection  does  not  work  by  set  times  for  a  given 
result,  an  age  being  sometimes  required  for  a  change  which  at 
other  times  a  few  j^ears  may  effect.  The  reaction  of  the 
organism  to  the  surrounding  conditions  must  be  taken  into 
account.  In  this  case  the  relation  of  the  organism  to  the 
external  conditions  results  in  rapid  change.  It  takes  place  with 
marvelous  strides.  Such  emigrants  often  become  within  the 
remainder  of  their  life-time  so  bettered  as  to  be  hardly  recog- 
nizable, and  leave  to  their  children  an  inheritance  of  good-looks 
which  never  had  previously  appeared  in  the  stock. 

We  see  the  Chinese  mostly  as  laundiymen,  and  elsewhere  in 
this  country  they  are  known  as  that  and  also  as  the  pickers-up 
of  unconsidered  trifles,  and  in  all  places  are  seen  with  somewhat 
changed  habits.  Where,  how<vver,  the  Chinaman  is  of  a  rank 
not  to  go  bare-foot,  he  generally  wears  the  Chinese  shoe.  That 
shoe  on  the  sole  is  about  half  an  inch  thick,  with  no  more  bend 
to  it  than  has  a  pine  board,  ability  to  walk  in  it  being  secured  by 
a  change  of  the  angle  of  the  sole  about  two-fifths  of  the  way 
from  the  toe.  In  consequence  of  this,  Chinamen  who  have  worn 
their  native  shoes  for  generations  have  scarcely  any  develop- 


120  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND  PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

nu'iit  to  the  calf  of  the  leg.  Going  slippered  and  booted  as, 
among  the  lower  classes,  they  are  largely  doing  in  this  country, 
is  for  the  fust  time  enabling  all  those  heretofore  destitute  of 
calves  to  procure  them. 

The  most   fearful  thing  in  nature,  a  writer  once  said,  is  a 
ballet-dancer's  leg  and  foot,  with  their  stumped  toes  and  abnormal 
muscular   development   of   the   calf.     But    there   is  one   thing 
more   fearful   than    that,  in   the   change  of  nature   by  art,  in   the 
high-caste    Chinawoman's    foot.     We   once    picked    up    on    the 
parlor-table  of  a  gentleman,  who  had  lived  twenty-live  years  in 
China,  an  ebony,  life-size  model  of  the  foot  of  a  Chinese  woman 
of  rank.     A  question  regarding  it  led  to  an  account  by  him  of 
bow   he   once,   by   means  of  bribery,  had   obtained  sight  of  the 
horrible  reality.     A  little  girl's  toes,  except  the  great  toe,  are 
broken  and  turned   under  the  sole  of  the  foot,  which  is   by  that 
treatment  and  the  following  procedure  arrested  in  growth.    That 
procedure    is    swathing   the   foot  with   bandages,  tightly   com- 
pressed, with*  which  the  child  pays  agonized  tribute  to  fashion 
for   having   been   born    highly   aristocratic,   continued    by   the 
further  tribute  of  stumping  on  short  stilts  through  life.     The 
description  of  this  horrible  practice  is  mentioned  here,  for  the 
bearing  which  it  has  upon  the  disease  now  known  among  us  as 
"  Morton's  toe,"  and  upon  what  is  to  be  further  said  on  the  sub- 
ject of  feet,  when  we  come  to  the  discussion  of  feminine  grace. 

Enough  cases  have  now  been  presented  to  elucidate  the 
statement  with  which  we  set  out,  that  change  in  the  human 
organism  may  be  so  rapid  as  to  be  conspicuous  even  within  the 
space  of  an  ordinary  life-time,  and,  therefore,  that  it  often  lies 
largely  within  our  power  to  control  its  direction  and  amount. 
Upon  the  basis  of  matters  which  we  have  duly  considered, — 
those  relating  to  structure, — we  can  now  best  study  those 
belonging  to  function,  as  exhibited  by  easy  movement,  and 
especially  that  form  of  it  known  as  feminine  grace. 


M' 


CHAPTER  X. 

GRACE   THE   CROWN    OF   BEAUTY. 

OYEMENT  may  be  in  itself  beautiful,  and  when  so,  and 
appropriately  combined  with  beauty  of  the  human  form, 
it  constitutes  the  highest  conceivable  beaut}'.  So  associated  in 
the  mind  is  living  form  with  movement,  and  symmetry  of  the 
living  form  with  exquisite  movement,  that  a  sense  of  deficiency 
is  experienced  if  the  movement  does  not  correspond  with  the 
apparent  requirements  of  the  form.  So  intimately  are  they 
associated  in  the  mind,  that  we  feel  the  absence  of  due  relations 
between  them,  even  when  the  idea  of  movement  convejed  is,  as 
in  the  statue,  only  suggested  by  the  counterfeit  presentment  of 
life.  The  colossal  statues  of  Egypt  sit  grandly  erect  with  their 
Atef  crowns,  but  stolidly,  and  wholly  unsuggestive  of  move- 
ment through  all  eternity.  The  Greek  statues,  on  the  contrary, 
be  the  portrayal  of  the  human  form  never  so  reposeful,  from  the 
massive-shouldered,  resting  Hercules  to  the  elegantly-limbed 
Apollo,  through  all  the  intermediate  delicacy  of  womankind, 
everywhere  suggest  form  energized  by  potential  action,  read}'  to 
deploy  itself  in  manifestations  of  strength  and  grace. 

It  is  movement  that  makes  grace.  When  we  say  of  a  figure 
that  it  is  graceful,  it  is  not  the  figure  itself  which  is  properly 
thought  of  as  graceful,  but  the  effect  which  would  be  exhibited 
if  only  it  should  move.  This  proves  how  closely  our  ideas  of 
form  and  movement  are  associated,  when  we  actually  transfer 
the  complex  perception  of  moving  form  to  form  alone.  The 
conception  from  a  perception  is  instinctively  transferred  to  and 
identified  with  the  figure  itself,  as  its  exclusive  attribute. 

If  the  reader  desires  to  seize  and  hold  firrnly  the  principles 
underlying  grace,  it  will  be  well,  first  of  all,  to  consider  that  it 

(121) 


122  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

is  not  the  exclusive  possession  of  human  beings,  nor  even  of  ani- 
mate things  generally,  and  that  it  is  an  element  of  beauty  which 

may  be  absent  from  form  otherwise  beautiful.  Everywhere, 
however,  that  it  manifests  itself,  it  is  found  associated  either 
with  life  or  with  that  which  is  life-like  through  presenting  the 
appearance  of  life.  Thus,  we  witness  it  in  the  gracefulness  of  a 
yacht  under  full  sail,  bounding  over  the  sea.  We  need  not  goto 
Byron's  line, "  She  walked  the  waters  like  a  thing  of  life,"  to 
know,  if  we  have  ever  seen  it,  how  full  of  apparent  life  and  pur- 
pose is  the  careening  craft  among  the  billows.  Even  the  move- 
ments of  a  kite  are  manifestly  life-like  and  graceful,  resembling 
the  soaring  of  birds.  We  find  among  the  lower  animals  several 
kinds  which  are  exquisitely  graceful;  witness,  for  instance, 
certain  species  of  antelope  and  deer,  and  the  species  of  birds  to 
which  allusion  has  just  been  made,  as  affording  the  high  standard 
by  which  we  judge  of  the  movement  of  the  kite.  The  horse,  too, 
not  as  he  sometimes  appears,  trained  even  to  tricks,  but  free  as 
nature  itself,  is  of  almost  unsurpassable  gracefulness,  in  his 
gathered  form,  arching  neck,  flaming  or  fearful  eye,  when  he 
sometimes  becomes  an  embodiment  of  grace  and  picturesqueness 
difficult  to  match. 

It  is,  however,  only  when"  we  reach  the  human  form  that 
symmetry  and  grace  can  be  so  conjoined  as  to  be  beyond  com- 
parison. This  is  said,  of  course,  with  due  regard  for  the  fact 
noted  in  the  preceding  pages,  and  to  be  kept  in  mind,  that  we 
are  constrained  to  speak  of  that  which  most  nearly  approaches 
our  highest  conception,  as  the  ideal,  although,  of  course,  the  ideal 
is  a  conception  be3'ond  anything  that  we  perceive.  Even  the 
Apollo  Belvidere  has  been  discovered  by  modern  anatomists  to 
be  defective  in  the  delineation  of  the  muscles  of  the  chest,  and 
the  equally  celebrated,  in  its  way,  group  of  the  Laocoon  exhibits 
in  the  brow  of  the  distraught  father  imperfection  in  delineation 
of  the  muscles  which  there  represent  the  corrugations  of  despair. 


GRACE   THE   CROWN    OF   BEAUTY.  123 

With  this  continued  understanding,  therefore,  it  may  be 
said  that  there  are  seen  occasionally  certain  embodiments  of 
perfect  grace.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  anything 
human  more  nearly  reaching  perfection  than  the  symmetry  and 
grace  which  Rachel  presented  in"Phedre."  Every  step  seemed 
to  now  naturally  out  of  what  preceded,  her  every  gesture  moved 
in  rhythmical  accord  with  the  verses  that  flowed  from  her  lips, 
while,  robed  in  the  superbly  ample  peplum  of  the  Greeks,  this 
high-priestess  of  the  histrionic  art  moved  a  goddess  on  the 
mimic  scene.  In  an  entirely  different  sphere  of  grace,  Ellen 
Terry,  in  "  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,"  where  the  line  occurs, 
"  Look  where  Beatrice,  like  a  lapwing,  moves  close  to  the  ground 
to  hear  our  conference,"  thrilled  the  spectator  by  the  sight  of 
her  agile  flight  across  the  stage. 

Grace  is  fundamentally,  then,  beauty  of  movement  in  living 
or  life-like  things.  It  gratifies  in  the  mind  the  associated  ideas 
of  accordance  with  each  other  of  form  and  movement,  and  that 
condition  best  satisfies  the  mind  which  harmonizes  the  two 
elements  concerned  in  the  greatest  unity  of  effect.  We 
experience  great  pleasure  at  the  sight  of  gracefulness,  and 
corresponding  uncomfortableness  at  the  sight  of  intense 
awkwardness. 

Looking  at  the  effect  from  a  mechanical  point  of  view,  and 
it  is  from  that  point  of  view  which  we  must  examine  it,  if  we 
wish  thoroughly  to  understand  and  promote  gracefulness,  it 
depends  upon  close  co-ordination  between  the  nervous  system 
and  the  trunk  and  limbs  of  the  booty.  Extreme  deficiency  in 
that  co-ordination  may  be  illustrated  by  citing  the  case  of  one 
who  has  St.  Vitus's  dance,  and  moderate  deficiencj^  b}-  that  of 
one  who  is  muscularly  well  developed,  but  does  everything 
awkwardly.  Grace,  on  the  contrary,  represents  the  complete 
adaptation  of  movement  to  the  mechanism  of  the  body.  It 
presents  ocular  evidence  of  the  smallest  expenditure  of  force 


124  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,    AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

for  a  given  effect.  When  its  constituent  qualities  are  analyzed, 
it  is  found  to  be  manifesting  itself  by  curvilinear  movement 
■within  the  bounds  associated  with  mechanical  effectiveness  and 
the  appearance  of  perfect  ease.  Hence  the  superiority  of  "women 
over  men  in  gracefulness. 

Let  not  the  reader,  however,  for  a  moment  confound  the 
concomitant  of  ease  with  the  constituents  of  gracefulness.  An 
athlete  may  raise  from  the  ground,  hold  at  arm's  length,  or 
otherwise  handle  with  what  may  be  called  ease,  a  very  heavy 
weight,  but  that  does  not  make  any  of  his  movements  necessarily 
easy  in  the  sense  of  their  being  graceful.  Even  if  he  -were  able 
to  perform  all  his  movements  with  the  curvilinear  differences 
that  would  be  inseparable  from  female  deployment  of  the  same 
muscles,  he  would  not  thereby  become  more  graceful,  because 
the  resulting  action  would  not  be  appropriate  to  the  masculine 
form.  Nothing  is  more  open  to  observation  than  that  to  each 
sex  difference  of  physical  conformation  assigns  difference  of 
movement;  for  we  find  that  women, *when  they  approach  the 
masculine  type  of  form,  are  exceedingly  awkward  and  unat- 
tractive, and  that  men,  when  they  approach  the  feminine  type, 
become  thereby  positively  emasculated  in  appearance,  and  re- 
pulsive. There  are  certain  well-defined  bounds  within  which 
gracefulness  can  be  exhibited  by  individuals  of  the  male  sex,  as 
in  the  Spanish  and  some  other  national  dances,  but  no  bounds 
can  be  assigned  to  individuals  of  the  opposite  sex  within  which 
action  must  be  confined  to  insure  gracefulness.  The  premiere 
danseuse  is  admirable,  but  the  premier  danseur  is  abominable. 
Beyond  the  simpler  order  of  movements,  the  latter  degenerates 
into  an  exhibition  of  pure  athleticism,  while,  with  the  former,  the 
most  pronounced  exhibition  of  athleticism  is  completely  veiled 
by  the  quality  of  feminine  grace. 

The  appearance  of  ease  is,  as  has  been  indicated,  the  effect 
of  curvilinear  movements.     First  in  the  sequence  of  causes  and 


>  GRACE   THE   CROWN   OP   BEAUTY.  125 

effects  comes  co-ordination  of  the  nervous  system  with  the  body 
and  limbs  Next  in  order  of  importance  comes  symmetrical 
development  in  accordance  with  sex.  The  product  of  these  is 
the  individual  of  either  sex  who  represents  a  good  organization 
for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  life.  Beyond  that  is  the  highest 
possible  co-ordination  of  the  nervous  system  with  a  form  of  the 
highest  symmetry.  These  conjoined,  with  physical  education, 
lead  to  the  highest  possible  manifestation  of  the  special  physical 
aptitude  and  grace  appropriate  to  each  sex.  Anatomical  differ- 
ences between  the  sexes  causing  the  movements  of  women  to  be 
executed  in  lines  more  curved  than  they  are  when  executed  by 
men,  it  comes  about  that  when,  according  to  their  type,  wrornen 
are  beautiful  in  face  and  form,  and  nervously  highly  organized, 
and  are  at  the  same  time  physically  and  socially  well  trained, 
they  present  the  highest  possible  example  of  development,  for 
thejr,  the  fairest  of  creatures,  are  thus  endowed,  in  grace,  with 
nature's  final  embellishment. 

It  is  easy  to  see  why  certain  movements  executed  by  indi- 
viduals of  one  sex  are  not  equally  well  performed  by  individuals 
of  the  opposite  one.  It  would  follow  from  what  has  been  said, 
that  those  movements  which  are  least  curved  would  be  best 
executed  by  men,  and  observation  bears  out  the  statement  that 
they  are.  Men  strike  horizontally  straight  from  the  shoulder, 
throw  with  admirable  precision,  and  kick  and  run  with  the 
utmost  directness  of  movement.  Women,  on  the  contrary,  that 
is,  typically  well-formed  women,  cannot  execute  any  of  these 
movements  with  either  ease  or  grace.  "Woman's  arm  is  articu- 
lated lower  at  the  shoulder  than  is  that  of  man,  because  it  is 
placed  with  reference  to  the  position  of  her  more  slanting 
shoulders,  and  the  arm  itself  is  not  so  straight  as  his,  and  she 
cannot  in  consequence  throw  a  stone  well,  or,  to  save  her  life, 
hit  a  straight  blow  from  the  shoulder.  She  is,  too,  if  well- 
formed,  what  would  be  called  in  a  man  slightly  knock-kneed, 


12t'.       HEREDITY,  HEALTH,  AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

and  in  consequence  she  cannot,  on  the  run,  avoid  a  lateral  move* 
menl  representing  a  waste  of  energy  for  the  purpose  to  be 
accomplished.  The  cancan,  performed  by  young,  slim  girls, 
instead  of  being  available  as  the  basis  of  an  argument  against 
the  view  that  women  are  unable  to  kick  effectively,  is  confirma- 
tory of  it,  for  one  of  the  prominent  elements  in  the  dance  is  the 
ridiculousness  of  the  kicking.  But  if  we,  personally,  could  have 
any  doubt  of  feminine  kicking  being  ridiculous,  through 
unadapted  physical  conformation,  it  would  be  removed  by  the 
revival  in  our  mind  of  a,  scene  which  we  once  witnessed  at  a 
countiy-seat,  where  four  young  ladies  from  the  city,  visiting  one 
afternoon,  and  finding  a  Rugby  foot-ball  on  the  lawn,  were 
inspired  to  have  a  game,  and  were  instigated  thereto  by  the  host 
and  hostess  and  two  or  three  guests  who  occupied  the  porch. 
The  spot  was  so  sequestered  as  to  be  entirely  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  observation,  and  so,  the  newcomers  taking  sides  of  two 
against  two,  the  game  began.  So  painful  an  exhibition  we  have 
never  before  or  since  witnessed.  The  ball  was  mounted  b}r  one 
of  the  girls  missing  it  on  the  run  and  kicking  herself  into  the 
air,  whence  she  descended  collapsed,  to  be  tumbled  over  by  her 
partner  in  an  indiscriminate  heap.  And  so  the  game  went  on 
for  twent}'  minutes,  with  the  players  half  the  time  on  the  ground 
making  revolving  efforts  to  rise,  while  the  people  on  the  porch, 
from  being  suffocated  with  laughter,  roared  with  most  inelegant 
shouts,  wept,  and  became  weak  and  h}Tsterical,  while  they 
besought  the  equally-exhausted  lawn-party  to  desist.  Painful! 
— there  were  moments  when  we  were  so  sore  and  aching  all  over 
that  we  would  have  given  anything  to  be  miles  away  from  the 
extraordinary  fascination  of  that  sport! 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE    ART    OF    WALKING. 

IN  a  very  interesting,  work  which  appeared  two  or  three  years 
ago,  entitled  "Romantic  Love  and  Personal  Beauty,"  lately 
supplemented  by  the  author,  Mr.  Henry  T.  Finck,  in  an  article 
in  which  he  descants  admiringly  on  the  beauty  of  Spanish 
women  as  enhanced  by  their  singularly  graceful  carriage,  he 
incidentally  makes  some  erroneous  statements  in  regard  to  the 
art  of  walking,  all  the  more  remarkable  as  coming  from  an  ob- 
server and  connoisseur  in  the  charms  which  he  depicts.  Inci- 
dentally, however,  to  noticing  this  error,  we  feel  bound  in  honor 
to  say  that,  with  the  exception  of  only  one  other,  which  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  notice  in  the  next  chapter, — that  as  to  his  view 
of  the  future  virtual  extirpation  of  the  blonde  Iry  the  brunette 
type  of  beauty, — Mr.  Finck's  work  is  most  instructive,  and  to 
be  cordially  recommended  to  every  one  desirous  of  closely 
studying  beauty  as  influenced  bj*  romantic  love.  To  the  demon- 
stration of  this  hitherto  much-overlooked  source  of  beauty,  his 
work  is  especially  devoted.  The  present  state  of  physiological 
knowledge  fully  supports  the  conclusions  which  he  reaches  by 
ample  discussion  and  illustration.  If,  as  undoubtedly  they  do, 
drunkenness  and  other  causes  which  have  a  deleterious  influence 
upon  the  human  organism,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  all  that  con- 
duces to  its  health,  impress  themselves  upon  offspring,  it  is  im- 
possible that  it  should  be  otherwise  than  that  the  sexual  congress 
which  is  necessary  to  the  extension  of  life,  by  which,  in  effect, 
parents  are  perpetuated  in  their  children,  should  not,  when  asso- 
ciated with  romantic  love,  in  creatures  so  highly  endowed  as  are 
human  beings  with  the  faculty  of  ideation,  produce  the  happiest 
effect  upon  health,  vigor,  and  beauty  of  offspring. 

(127) 


128  HEBEDITY,   HEALTH,   AM)   PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

The  wry  pictures  of  Spanish  women,  by  Fortuny  and  others, 
with  which  Mr.  Pinck's  article,  <>n  the  beauty  of  Spanish  women, 
is  illustrated,  refute  his  statements  on  the  art  of  walking,  in  liis 
work  on  "  Romantic  Love  and  Personal  Beaut}'."  He  there 
remarks  that — 

It  is  a  mooted  question  whether  the  toes  should  be  slightly  turned  out- 
ward, :is  dancing-masters  insist,  or  placed  In  Btraight  parallel  lines,  as  some 
physiologists  hold.  For  the  reasons  indicated  in  the  hist  paragraph,  physiologists 
are  clearly  right.    With  parallel,  or  almost  parallel,  great  tors  a  graceful  walk  is 

more  easily  attained  than  by  turning  out  the  toes.  Even  in  standing,  Dr.  Tin  mi  as 
S.  Ellis  argues,  the  parallel  position  is  preferable.  When  a  body  [he  says]  stands 
on  tour  points,  I  know  of  no  reason  why  it  should  stand  more  firmly  if  those 
points  be  unequally  disposed.  The  tendency  to  fall  forward  would  seem  to  be 
even  increased  by  widening  the  distance  between  the  points  in  front,  and  it  is  in 
this  direction  that  falls  most  commonly  occur. 

Gracefulness  of  walking  is  so  essential  to  elegance  of  pres- 
ence, and  so  dependent  upon  the  proper  position  of  the  feet  with 
reference  to  the  body  and  the  line  of  advance,  that  one  cannot 
do  better  than  take  the  preceding  statement  as  text  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  subject,  which  cannot  properly  be  omitted  in  a 
work  like  this,  and  which  finds  its  most  appropriate  place  at  the 
point  that  we  have  reached. 

First  of  all,  before  proceeding  farther,  certain  ambiguities 
in  the  statement  must  be  cleared  up.  It  is  to  be  observed  that, 
after  the  author  hud  spoken  of  the  feet  being  placed  in  "  straight 
parallel  lines,  as  some  pli3rsiologists  hold,"  he  subjoins  that 
"physiologists  are  clearl}'  right."  Now,  the  most  that  can  be 
claimed  is  that  some  physiologists  advocate  the  practice  de- 
scribed; but  that  of  itself  has  no  weight,  for  there  is  no  ques- 
tion, great  or  small,  upon  which  members  of  any  profession  are 
all  agreed  in  opinion.  Authority  that  compels  acceptance  of 
views  can  come  only  from  overwhelming  majority,  individual 
distinction,  or  demonstration,  and  all  these  are  wanting  to  the 
statement.  It  is  our  conviction  that  authority  for  the  opposite 
opinion  is  represented  by  enormous  preponderance  in  the  num- 


THE   ART   OF    WALKING.  129 

bers  and  prominence  of  its  advocates  over  those  who  hold  the 
opinion  cited. 

It  is  to  be  considered,  with  reference  to  the  citation  of 
dancing-masters  as  having  exaggerated  notions  of  how  the  feet 
should  be  placed,  that  they  represent  only  a  certain  kind  of  drill, 
and  that  all  drill,  as  has  been  elsewhere  intimated,  is  excessive  in 
formal  teaching,  in  order  to  allow  ample  margin  for  lapse  in  actual 
practice.  The  soldier  is  taught,  in  the  manual  of  arms,  in  march- 
ing, and  all  that  appertains  to  drill,  what  is  to  serve  him  in  stead 
in  his  military  life,  but  what  does  not  so  formally  there  appear. 
It  is  notorious  that,  in  the  assants  d'armes,  the  small-sword  prac- 
tice with  foils,  when  they  take  place  as  competitive  contests,  the 
academical  style,  as  it  is  termed,  largely  disappears  in  the  heat 
and  exigencies  of  the  contests.  So  we  may  say  of  boxing  and 
of  any  other  athletic  exercises,  that  there  are  formal  positions, 
always  in  excess  of  those  which  are  to  be  observed  in  actual  use, 
and  still  more  in  emergencj^.  In  close  contest,  nature  declines 
to  be  strictly  academical,  and  yet  the  practice  which  is  born  of 
the  school  and  the  academy  better  fits  the  possessor  than 
otherwise  to  use  the  powers  with  which  he  has  been  gifted  by 
nature. 

We  reach  the  consideration  as  to  what  degree  of  turning 
out  of  the  toes  is  permitted  by  the  expression  quoted  :  "  With 
parallel,  or  almost  parallel,  great  toes  a  graceful  walk  is  more 
easily  attained  than  by  turning  out  the  toes."  The  angle  at 
which,  in  our  estimation,  the  toes  should  be  turned  out  is  that 
at  which  the  ball  of  the  great  toe,  as  well  as  the  great  toe  itself, 
can  best  act,  not  only  as  the  fulcrum  around  which  the  body  is 
moving,  but  as  giving  the  most  considerable  repeated  force  in 
propulsion.  This  angle  is  not  to  be  arbitraribv  determined,  but 
should  depend  upon  and  be  fixed  hy  what  constitutes  the  most 
effective  movement  of  the  body.  The  rigid  march  of  Frederic 
the  Great's  soldiers  was  the  model  first  adopted  by  our  arrnj\ 


130  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

The  whole  world  imitated  it  on  parade.  It  remained  for  the 
French  (among  the  most  practical  people  on  earth)  to  discover 
tint  i-veii  the  arms  have,  through  their  momentum, a  function  in 
marching.  Hence,  was  to  be  seen  among  the  French,  forty  j  ears 
ago,  the  firsl  true  military  marching,  where  the  body  sways  with 
an  easy  carriage. 

Now,  neither  in  marching  nor  in  walking — for  they  are  es- 
sentially the  same  thing,  marching  being  only  formal  walking 
(and  hence  those  persons  walk  best  who  have  been  taught  to 
march) — can  the  bod}- move  best  with  parallel  feet.  The  most 
perfect  freedom  possible  of  movement  of  the  whole  bod}'  in  the 
walk  should,  as  we  have  indicated,  determine  the  angle  at  which 
the  feet  should  be  turned  out,  and  this  will  slightly  differ  in 
different  persons,  with  breadth  of  shoulder  and  length  of  leg. 
So  adjusted  as  to  angle,  the  movement  of  advancing  is  accom- 
panied by  shoulders  alternately  thrown  back,  and  corresponding 
expansion  of  the  chest.  Observation  of  any  one  walking  with 
turned-in  or  parallel  toes  will  prove  that  the  shoulders  alter- 
natch'  describe  smaller  arcs,  and  that  the  whole  effect  is  con- 
tracted and  ungainly. 

Dr.  Ellis's  advocacy  of  parallel  feet,  quoted  with  approval 
by  Mr.  Finck,  is  entirely  untenable  from  the  point  of  view  of 
geometry  and  physics.     He  says  : — 

When  a  body  stands  on  four  points,  I  know  of  no  reason  why  it  should 
stand  more  firmly  if  those  points  be  unequally  disposed.  The  tendency  to  fall 
forward  would  seem  to  be 'even  increased  by  .widening  the  distance  between  the 
points  in  front,  and  it  is  in  this  direction  that  falls  most  commonly  occur. 

If  Dr.  Ellis  would  take  a  jointed  doll,  place  its  feet  parallel, 
and  stand  it  up  on  a  table,  he  would  find  that  it  is  in  a  position 
of  most  unstable  equilibrium.  If  he  would  then,  without  re- 
moving it,  turn  the  doll's  toes  slightly  outward,  he  would  find  it 
firmly  placed.  As  it  is  not  alone  the  area  of  the  soles  of  both 
feet  upon  which  the  human  figure  stands  as  its  base,  but  the 


THE   ART   OF   WALKING.  131 

area  bounded  by  the  outer  edges  of  the  feet  and  imaginary  lines 
drawn  respectively  from  toe  to  toe  and  heel  to  heel,  the  base 
upon  which  the  body  stands  when  the  feet  are  parallel  is  repre- 
sented by  a  small  parallelogram.  After  the  feet  have  been  so 
placed,  let  the  toes  be  turned  slightly  outward.  One  side 
of  the  area  remains  the  same  (the  line  from  heel  to  heel); 
one  side  becomes  considerably  longer  (the  line  from  toe  to  toe)  ; 
and  the  two  sides  represented  by  the  outside  edges  of  the  feet 
remain,  of  course,  of  the  same  length.  The  area  representing 
the  base  upon  which  the  body  stands  is  slightly  contracted  from 
front  to  rear,  but  that  is  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  in- 
crease of  the  area  from  side  to  side. 

Dr.  Ellis's  opinion  as  to  the  direction  in  liability  of  falling 
being  based  upon  false  premises  is,x>f  course,  equally  in  error 
with  them.  We  fall  forward  more  frequently  than  otherwise, 
not  from  relative  lack  of  base  to  prevent  falling  in  that  direction, 
but  because  we  are  plrysically  better  fitted  to  fall  forward  than 
to  fall  in  any  other  direction,  because  we  seek  to  so  fall,  in  order 
to  avoid  the  likelihood  of  greater  injury  from  falling  in  other 
directions.  But  let  us  go  to  the  root  of  the  matter  as  the  shortest 
way  of  coming  to  the  end.  The  progression  called  walking  is 
effected  automatically,  after  the  first  step,  by  the  bod}^  being 
thrown  slightly  forward  beyond  its  centre  of  gravity,  the  foot 
behind  advancing  to  support  it  in  its  new  position,  whence  the 
operation  is  resumed  by  the  same  action  of  the  bodj^  while  the 
other  foot  advances  to  support  it.  The  habit  of  life  in  walking 
is  automatic.  Except  as  to  learning  originally  how  to  walk,  and 
later  in  life,  as  to  initiating  and  arresting  the  movement,  it  is 
entirely  stimulated  and  maintained,  not  b}^  the  brain,  but  by  the 
reflex  action  of  the  educated  spinal  cord.  This  perfected  habit 
makes  us  instinctively  endeavor  when  falling  to  place  ourselves 
as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  position  in  which  immunity  from 
harm  most  lies.     That  position  is  forward,  because  habit  has 


132  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    HEAUTY. 

enabled  us  to  calculate  besl  for  that  direction  the  effect  of  loss 
of  centre  of  gravity,  and  because  for  that  direction  the  hands  :ire 
besl  placed  to  enable  us  to  save  ourselves.  The  preferable 
positions  for  falling  are,  first,  for  ward,  and,  second,  backward; 
because  in  both  the  hands  are  most  advantageously  placed  for 
protecting  us  from  injury.  If  Dr.  Ellis  were  right,  the  best 
I  jition  in  which  to  fall  would  be  sidewise,  which  is  the  most 
helpless  of  all  directions  in  which  to  fall,  because  no  instinctive 
calculation  can  be  made  for  the  effects  of  the  loss  of  the  centre 
of  gravity;  we  are  powerless  to  modify  the  direction  of  our  fall, 
and  only  one  hand  is  so  situated  as  to  be  able  to  diminish  the 
shock. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  aesthetic  side  of  the  question. 
Persons  who  turn  their  to»s  in,  or  turn  one  in  and  hold  the  other 
straight  to  the  front,  are  notably  ungraceful  in  bearing.  The 
parrot-  and  parallel-  toes  of  the  American  Indian  represent  a 
most  ungainly  walk,  acquired  through  thousands  of  generations 
in  the  exigency  of  following  trails  through  the  wilderness.  Simi- 
lar walking  among  civilized  people  represents  the  child  status  of 
progressive  movement,  unmodified  b}r  family  or  other  training. 
It  is  as  much  a  reflection  upon  original  birth  and  breeding  as  is 
left-handedness.  The  dancing-master's  dictum  represents  nothing 
but  excess  in  what  all  polished  nations  have  adopted  as  the  best 
practice  in  standing  and  walking,  while  the  American  Indian  and 
other  savages  have  been,  to  a  man  or  woman,  constrained  by  the 
necessities  of  their  existence  to  do  otherwise.  Go  where  one 
will,  the  world  over,  and  it  will  be  found  that  the  higher  classes 
have  reached  this  conclusion,  and  among  all  exemplars  of  the 
truth  and  beauty  of  the  practice  there  is  none  higher  to  be  found 
than  in  the  gait  and  splendid  port  of  Spanish  women. 

Subject  to  due  modification,  with  reference  to  the  height, 
length  of  leg,  and  breadth  of  person,  the  toe  of  each  foot  should 
be  turned  out  about  three  inches.     Breadth  of  person  enters 


THE    ART   OF    WALKING.  133 

into  consideration,  as  well  as  height,  because  a  short,  stoat  per- 
son, with  a  given  amount  of  movement  at  the  feet  pointed  out- 
ward, sways  at  the  shoulders  more  than  a  taller  person  does  u  it  li 
the  toes  turned  out  to  the  same  degree;  not  actually  more,  but 
disproportionately  with  reference  to  height  and  breadth,  and 
therefore  to  effect  produced.  Hence,  the  marked  rolling  motion 
of  the  shoulders,  appropriate  to  the  gait  of  a  sailor,  but  not 
compatible  with  a  graceful  walk,  is  to  be  avoided  by  modifying 
the  position  of  the  feet  with  reference  to  individual  physical 
conformation. 

The  length  of  the  step  should  be  proportioned  to  the  length 
of  the  leg.  If  the  foot  is  thrown  too  far  forward  for  the  natural 
stride,  or  the  ankle-joint  is  not  allowed  play,  when  the  foot 
reaches  the  ground  it  strikes  stiffly,  with  a  jar,  on  the  end  of  the 
heel.  The  length  of  the  step  and  the  flexure  of  the  ankle  should 
be  such  as  to  allow  the  parts  of  the  sole  to  touch  the  ground 
almost  simultaneously. 

The  toes  must  never  be  turned  out  so  much,  nor  the  foot  be 
so  placed,  as  to  allow  the  foot  to  rest  on  the  outer  edge.  Neither 
must  it  be  allowed  to  rest  on  the  inner  edge,  but  in  all  positions 
be  firmly  planted  on  the  ground.  The  first  position  gives  a 
simian,  or  ape-like,  effect  to  the  foot,  and  degrades  the  whole 
movement  of  the  body.  The  second  has  the  effect  of  what  is 
known  in  surgery  as  splay-foot,  in  which  the  inner  part  of  the 
ankle  actually  touches  the  ground,  and  has  a  most  ungainly 
appearance.  However,  short  of  deformity,  this  position  is,  with 
the  toes  turned  out,  difficult  to  assume. 

There  is  no  more  awkward  appearance  in  walking  than  that 
produced  by  the  toes  excessive!}'  turned  out,  so  that  the  side  of 
the  leg  is  seen  in  a  person  advancing  presented  to  the  front. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  movement  of  both  leg  and  body 
is  most  unsightly,  not  to  be  exceeded  by,  if  less  vulgar  than,  the 
effect  produced  by  turning  the  toes  in,  the  essential  vulgarity 


134  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND  PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

of  which  is  recognized  by  its  being  the  invariable  attitude  of  the 
circus  clown. 

In  brief,  turn  the  toes  out  slightly,  graduate  the  step  so  that 
the  parts  of  the  Bole  of  the  foot  shall  reach  the  ground  as  nearly 
as  possible  simultaneously  and  squarely  planted.  Make  the 
whole  movement  elastic  ;  avoiding,  on  the  one  hand,  the  appear- 
ance of  stiffness,  and,  on  the  other,  that  of  springiness  at  the 
knees, — the  first  a  sign  of  muscular  weakness,  and  the  other  an 
old  buck's  ill-advised  protest  against  encroaching  senility. 
When  going  at  a  moderate  pace,  let  the  arms,  when  unincum- 
bered, swing  gently  in  unison  with  the  movement  of  the  bod}', 
and  the  side,  not  the  back  of  the  hand,  be  to  the  front.  When 
going  at  high  speed,  let  the  arms  move  vigorously  at  the  sides 
in  aid  of  the  movement.  In  all  movement  of  the  arms,  when 
walking,  be  careful  not  to  let  the  forearm  pass  across  the  body 
as  seen  from  the  front.  This  action  characterizes  the  rapid  walk 
of  the  bumpkin,  the  hoodlum,  and  of  all  untrained  persons. 
Examine  the  soles  of  your  shoes  occasionally  for  evidence  of 
what  you  have  been  doing  as  to  proper  planting  of  the  foot  on 
the  ground.  If  the  heel  is  jammed,  and  the  outer  edge  of  the 
sole  unduly  worn,  you  turn  your  toes  out  too  much,  that  is 
certain  ;  and  either  your  step  is  too  long  for  the  length  of  the 
leg,  or  your  ankle-joint  does  not  flex  enough  as  the  foot  is  about 
to  be  placed  on  the  ground.  Perhaps  both  causes  are  operative 
at  the  same  time  in  effecting  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  heel.,  and 
hence,  full  evidence  being  procurable  by  you,  it  is  in  your  power 
gradually  to  modify  and  correct  the  error. 

One  thing  is  primarily  necessaiy  to  grace,  as  well  as  to 
beauty, — form.  But,  even  given  form,  beauty  of  the  highest 
order  cannot  exist  without  grace.  Grace,  in  turn,  cannot  exist 
without  freedom  of  action  in  every  part  of  the  body.  Nothing 
so  mars  it  as  constriction  of  the  trunk  and  feet.  Why  do  the 
movements  of  little  girls  dancing  give  so  much  pleasure  to  the 


THE    ART   OF   WALKING.  135 

spectator,  but  that  they  exhibit  the  natural  freedom  of  move- 
ment belonging  to  youth?  There  may  not  be  present  any 
particular  physical  beauty,  and  yet  this  endowment  alone  is 
ravishing.  Observe  only  a  few  years  afterward  the  movements 
of  the  same  girls  when  similarly  engaged,  and  see  how  the  grace, 
which  should  by  education  have  increased,  has  largely  departed 
or  entirely  vanished.  Whence  does  this  arise  but  from  the  habit 
of  constraining  dress  having- reduced  vigor  and  suppleness  of 
body?  The  trunk,  arms,  and  legs  have  lost  the  habit  of  subtle 
turns  of  beauty,  which  glide  into  each  other  with  rhythmical 
flow.  Stiffness  pervades  the  whole  carriage,  whether  in  sitting, 
walking,  dancing,  or  running ;  which  last  has  come  to  be  well- 
nigh  impossible.  Thousands  of  women  who  have  within  them 
infinite  capacity  for  grace,  always  move  constrainedly  through 
life,  in  their  stifling  and  circulation-impeding  corsets,  their 
excruciating  shoes,  and,  when  fashion  so  wills,  in  sleeves  so  tight 
as  to  restrict  them  to  the  gestures  of  a  kangaroo.  Look  on  at 
ball-play,  or  at  any  pastime  where  young  men  are  congregated, 
and  see  their  athletic  pose  and  movement  and  unconfined  grace, 
and  what  a  contrast  do  we  find  between  them  and  the  majority 
of  3Toung  women  in  ph}sical  development  and  the  highest  being  1 
So  it  often  comes  to  pass  that  manj^  individuals  of  the  fair  sex, 
which  nature  has  most  distinctively  endowed  with- capacity  for 
grace,  deliberately  abdicate  with  their  rights  their  fullest  empire 
over  men. 

If  we  were  instructing  girls  and  }7oung  women  in  calis- 
thenics, we  would  surely  take  advantage  of  the  effects  produced 
in  the  bearing  of  the  whole  person  by  the  carrying  of  objects 
like  water-jars  upon  the  head.  No  one  who  has  ever  been  in 
climes  where  women  thus  habitually  bear  such  burdens  can  have 
any  doubt  as  to  the  excellence  of  the  training  for  securing 
graceful  attitude.  The  arms,  too,  as  they  are  sometimes  raised 
alternately  at  intervals,  to  re-adjust  the  burden  or  to  insure  its 


136  HEREDITY,    lll.Al/ril.    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

safety,  touching  with  the  finger-tips  the  poised  jar  or  other  ob- 
ject, come  in  for  a  share  of  training  in  gracefulness.  The  first 
meeting  of  Jacob  with  the  beautiful  Rebecca  at  the  well  was 
singularly  adapted,  from  the  setting-  in  which  she  appeared,  to 
bring  about  the  love  at  first  sight  that  ensued. 

Montaigne  remarks  in  one  of  his  essays,  that — 

Those  mean  fellows  that  teach  to  dance,  not  being  able  to  represent  the 
presence  and  decency  of  our  nobleness,  are  fain  to  supply  it  with  dangerous  Leaps 
and  other -strange  motions  and  fantastic  tricks.     And  the  ladies  arc  less  put  to 

it  in  dances  where  there  are  several  coupees,  changes,  and  quick  motions  of  the 
body,  than  in  some  other  of  a  more  solemn  kind,  where  they  are  only  to  move  a 
natural  pace,  and  to  represent  their  ordinary  grace  and  presence. 

This  is  but  equivalent  to  saying  that  twinkling  feet,  leaps, 
and  pigeon-wings  may  but  serve  to  conceal  total  lack  of  grace. 
The  movements  which  approach  most  closely  to  the  habitual 
ones  of  life  are  the  crucial  tests  of  inherent  grace,  the  rarest 
of  all  graces  being  the  pose  and  movement  of  the  head  on  well- 
turned  shoulders.  The  physical  elements,  the  machinery,  are 
often  present,  but  not  the  movement  which  should  be  associated 
with  them.  To  produce  this  special  gracefulness,  nothing  is 
more  efficient  than  the  exercise  of  carrying  on  the  head  a  light 
burden,  high  enough  to  require  balancing.  Women,  it  is  true, 
are  in  some  countries  obliged  to  carry  burdens  so  great  as  to 
degrade,  instead  of  improving,  form  and  movement ;  but  we  have 
alread}'  pointed  out  that  any  kind  of  labor  pushed  to  the  point  of 
toil  is  destructive,  instead  of  promotive,  of  physical  well-being. 
It  must  be  remembered,  therefore,  when  we  speak  of  the  bene- 
ficial effect  on  gracefulness  of  carrying  burdens  upon  the  head, 
that  we  exclude  exercise  involving  toil,  and  even  wdiat  might  be 
called  labor,  and  refer  exclusive!}-  to  exercise  which,  as  deter- 
mined by  the  muscular  force  necessary  to  accomplish  it,  and  by 
the  time  required  for  its  performance,  any  one  wrould  consider 
light.  Calisthenic  exercises  look  to  the  improvement  of  the 
physical  condition,  as    representing  vitality,  and  to  rounding 


THE    ART   OP   WALKING.  137 

muscles,  as  representing  beauty  of  form  and  one  of  the  first 
conditions  of  gracefulness.  The  kind  of  exercise  just  recom- 
mended as  especially  conducive  to  gracefulness,  whether  grow- 
ing out  of  the  habits  of  the  country  or  undertaken  for  the  sake 
of  its  special  effects,  makes  excellent  training  for  co-ordinating 
different  parts  of  the  body,  from  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the 
sole  of  the  foot.  The  centre  of  gravity  of  the  burden  requiring 
to  be  maintained,  the  most  perfect  accord  in  the  movement  of 
the  bearer  is  necessitated.  The  head  erect,  neck  and  spine 
acting  together,  all  must  harmonize  exactly  with  the  pace.  One  of 
the  most  charming  sights  that  ever  gratified  our  artistic  sense  in 
a  foreign  land  was  the  lithe,  vigorous  figure  of  a  young  girl  clad 
in  a  single  garment,  with  a  basket  of  limes  poised  gracefully  upon 
her  head.  After  a  little  practice,  the  effort  necessary  at  first  to 
balancing  an  object  of  some  height,  such  as  a  water-jar,  entirely 
ceases,  and  the  sense  of  ease  with  which  it  can  be  done  is 
pleasurable.  The  burden  seems  to  have  become  part  of  the 
bearer,  and  when  relieved  of  it  the  educated  spinal  column 
ceases  not  to  assert  its  gain,  especially  in  the  gracefulness  of 
the  pose  of  the  head. 

Only  in  April  last,  Dr.  Ellis,  whose  views  on  standing  and 
walking  Mr.  Finck  so  approvingly  quotes, appeared  in  an  elaborate 
article, in  Wood's  "Medical  and  Surgical  Monographs"  (William 
Wood  &  Co.,  New  York),  entitled  "  The  Foot."  The  writer  is  Dr. 
Thomas  S.  Ellis,  Consulting  Surgeon  to  the  General  Infirmary 
at  Gloucester,  England.  As  this  is  Dr.  Ellis's  last  word  on  the 
structure  of  the  foot,  standing,  and  walking ;  as  the  exercise  of 
walking  is  the  most  general  of  any  among  mankind  ;  and  as 
upon  the  proper  execution  of  it  much  of  the  development 
and  nearly  all  grace  of  person  depend,  the  subject  is  one  of 
such  great  importance  that  we  here  pursue  it  in  the  most 
effective  of  all  methods  bj'  challenging  the  accuracy  of  Dr. 
Ellis's  conclusion.     That  a  monograph  of  one  hundred  and  one 


133  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONA!    BEAUTY. 

well-written,  well-printed,  and  well-illustrated  pages  should 
have  been  devoted  by  a  man  perfectly  conversant  with  the 
anatomy  of  the  foot,  and  having,  through  a  personal  accident 
to  that  member,  had  his  attention  directed  to  it  in  a  way  seem- 
ingly sure  to  be  productive  of  the  most  valuable  results,  but 
should  have  reached  what  may,  with  literal  precision,  be  termed 
a  lame  and  impotent  conclusion,  would  be  marvelous  to  any  one 
who  does  not  know  what  constant  experience  teaches,  that  the 
imagination,  like  the  vaulting  ambition  of  which  Shakespeare 
.-peaks,  frequently  o'erleaps  itself  and  falls  on  t'other  side.  Facts 
Dr.  Ellis  gives  us  in  plenty, — facts  excellently  well  stated.  It  is 
not  with  reference  to  his  allegations  as  to  these  that  we  quarrel, 
but  with  his  conclusion. 

Dr.  Ellis  sets  out  by  saying  that  each  foot  is  the  counter- 
part and  complement  of  the  other.  We  reply  that  the  human 
body  having  only  two  feet,  if  one  is  the  counterpart  of  the  other, 
it  is  necessarily  its  complement.  But  let  us  consider  the  special 
feature  which,  in  Dr.  Ellis's  eyes,  makes  one  foot  peculiarly 
complementary  to  the  other.  The  foot  is,  he  says,  on  its  inner, 
under  aspect,  a  semi-dome,  from  which  circumstance  arises 
the  fact  that  if  one  foot  forms  a  semi-dome,  of  course  the  other 
also  forming  a  semi-dome,  the  two  together  form  a  dome. 

These  are  facts,  but  the  conception  was  a  most  unhappy 
one  for  Dr.  Ellis's  conclusions,  for,  having  once  adopted  it,  the 
idea  of  the  strength  inherent  in  the  dome  subordinates  all  other 
fact-  thenceforth, and  we  have  the  position  of  both  standing  and 
walking  regarded  by  him  as  referable  to  this  dome-like  form  of 
the  two  feet  in  conjunction.  Xow,  one  should  think  that,  of  all 
things  palpable,  the  fallacy  in  this  conclusion  would  be  self- 
evident.  It  would  really  seem,  when  one  remembers  how  sub- 
sidiarily the  feet  act  with  reference  to  each  other,  as  compared 
with  their  action  with  reference  to  the  exigencies  of  the  move- 
ment of  the    trunk   of  the  body,  all   idea  of  joint   dome-like 


THE   ART   OF    WALKING.  139 

construction  relating  to  their  acting  in  conjunction  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  trunk  would  be  swept  away.  What  becomes  of  the 
dome  when  a  man  is  running,  when  he  is  hopping,  when  he  is 
dancing,  when  he  is  practicing  at  savate — aye,  when  he  is  mod- 
erately walking,  or  even  standing  in  an  ordinary  position  ?  The 
feet  are  acting  in  concert,  but  the  concert  with  which  they  act 
never  fulfills  the  demands  of  the  dome  structure,  for  one  semi- 
dome  is  in  one  place  while  the  other  semi-dome  is  in  another. 
Hence,  Dr.  Ellis's  conclusion,  that  one  walks  to  the  best  advan- 
tage with  parallel  feet  is  not  deducible  from  the  proposition 
stated,  for,  even  in  walking,  the  two  semi-domes  are  alternately 
passing  each  other,  not  combining  for  dome  strength. 

Dr.  Ellis  indicates  that,  just  as  one  walking  with  parallel 
feet  thus  best  propels  the  body  with  the  rise  and  backward 
thrust  of  the  great  toe,  so  also  the  ordinary  dancer  rises  and 
falls  best  on  the  great  toes  of  parallel  feet.  We  think  that 
propulsion  of  the  body  can  be  best  effected  by  the  line  formed 
by  the  great  toe  and  the  ball  of  the  foot  when  placed  in  the 
position  secured  by  turning  the  feet  slightby  out,  because  then 
one  combines  the  spring  of  the  great  toe  with  that  line  in  a  more 
effective  position  for  thrusting.  But  even  were  this  not  so, 
equally  important  with  the  means  of  propulsion  of  the  body,  are 
those  of  maintenance  to  the  best  advantage  of  its  equilibrium. 
A  crucial  test  of  what  should  be  the  position  of  the  feet  with 
reference  to  equilibrium,  and  consequently  with  reference  to  the 
best  control  and  action  of  the  body,  ought  to  be,  and  is,  the 
effect  of  that  position  in  which  the  feet  touch  the  ground  with  the 
minimum  of  surface  capable  of  supporting  the  body,  as  we  ob- 
serve practiced  in  some  of  the  movements  of  the  ballet-dancer. 
Now,  such  dancers  do  not,  in  tip-toe  passages  of  the  ballet,  stand 
or  move  with  parallel  feet,  as  any  one  ma}r  see  from  the  parquet  or 
boxes  of  a  theatre,  for  the  curve  of  the  sole  of  the  foot  is  visible 
from  the  front.     If,  as  any  one  with  a  quick  eye  can  detect,  the 


140  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

dancer,  whether  standing,  walking,  or  dancing  on  the  points  of 

the  toes,  allows  the  heels  to  subside  until  they  touch  the  floor, 
the  toes  are  proved  to  have  been  well  turned  out.  In  fact,  when 
tlu-  weight  of  the  dancer  is  resting  on  the  points  of  the  toes,  it 
is  only  upon  condition  that  the  foot,  and  consequently  tJie 
inside  of  the  leg,  shall  be  slightly  turned  out,  that  graceful 
movements,  or  indeed  any  but  those  most  insecure  and  awkward, 
can  take  place  without  losing  the  balance.  Hence,  if  this  be  so 
under  the  great  disadvantage  of  the  tip-toe  position  of  the 
dancer,  it  must  be  also  true  for  the  position  where  the  feet  are 
plaeed  as  in  walking,  that  by  turning  the  toes  slightly  out 
equilibrium  and  graceful  movement  are  best  secured. 

Dr.  Ellis  asks  ironically  whether  it  is  really  the  fact,  as  has 
been  alleged,  that  the  body  stands  on  a  broader  base  with  the 
toes  turned  out  than  it  does  when  the  feet  are  parallel.  It  seems 
to  him.  he  says,  that  with  parallel  feet  the  body  would,  as  the 
poet  says,  stand  on  a  broader  base, 

Like  a  tower  that  stood  four-square  to  every  wind  that  blew. 

Dr.  Ellis  does  not  state  the  case  fairly,  for  when  he  makes 
the  suppositious  tower  of  the  human  body  stand  "  four-square" 
he  assumes  that  the  heels  are  apart,  but  when  he  makes  this 
same  tower  stand  in  angular  fashion  he  assumes  that  the  heels 
are  touching.  Now,  neither  in  walking  nor  in  standing,  except 
in  ''attention"  at  drill,  in  bowing,  and  in  "positions"  in 
dancing,  are  the  heels  placed  together.  To  make  the  comparison 
fairly,  therefore,  it  is  necessary  to  suppose  that  in  both  cases 
the  heels  are  at  the  usual,  or  at  least  the  same,  distance  apart, 
and  that  being  done,  the  base  of  the  body,  as  we  have  previously 
shown,  is  larger  in  area  with  the  toes  slightly  turned  out  than 
it  is  with  the  feet  parallel,  and  therefore  the  equilibrium  of  the 
body  more  stable. 

Dr.  Ellis  takes  direct  issue  with  the  military  for  their  mode 
of  marching.     It  follows  from  what  we  have  said  that  we  think 


THE    AttT   OF    WALKING.  141 

their  views  correct.  Now  that  everywhere  in  the  world  the 
absurd  Prussian  drill  originating  a  century  and  more  ago  has 
been  gradually  discarded,  of  carrying  a  free  arm  as  if  it  were  a 
lifeless  appendage  of  the  body,  there  is  no  ground  for  criticism 
of  .military  marching.  On  parade  there  will  always  be  some 
stillness,  as  the  men  are  en  grande  te?iue,  but  the  present 
instruction  is  in  the  right  direction,  and,  when  it  comes  to  real 
marching  in  the  field,  nature  asserts  itself  and  supplements 
the  drill. 

We  cannot  but  regret  that  Dr.  Ellis  has  spent  so  much 
erudition,  time,  and  labor  in  reaching  a  conclusion  which 
observation  and  experience  do  not  justify.  That  his  work  is 
well  done  from  his  point  of  view  is  the  only  reason  why  we  have 
noticed  it  at  length,  fearing  that  it  might  to  the  inexperienced 
convey  false  impressions.  The  highest  compliment  that  we  can 
pay  Dr.  Ellis,  short  of  agreeing  with  him,  is  in  thus  pains- 
takingly altogether  dissenting  from  him,  for  the  meed  of 
excellence  of  demonstration,  whether  right  or  wrong,  is  to  invite 
opposition,  while  mediocrity  and  weakness  inevitabhv  suffer 
neglect. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE    EVOLUTION   OF    THE    AMERICAN   GIRL. 

ALTHOUGH,  as  Judge  Haliburton  remarks  in  "  Sam  Slick," 
women  always  look  out  for  the  becoming,  it  should  be 
admitted  that  they  do  not  always  find  it.  <  They  are,  it  is  true, 
through  organization  and  education,  more  generally  desirous  to 
please  than  are  men,  and  therefore  they  are  on  that  account  more 
anxious  to  adopt  the  becoming  in  dress,  but  that  they  have  any 
higher  sense  of  and  liking  for  the  becoming,  as  some  women 
think,  is  a  claim  that  can  be  disproved  by  numerous  facts.  The 
autocrat  of  the  world  in  feminine  attire  has  been  for  decades  a 
man,  represented  the  world  over  by  minor  masculine  poten- 
tates within  their  humbler  domains,  and  the  universal  ciy  of 
well-dressed  women  is  that  they  find  among  female  mantua- 
makers  so  little  taste  and  skill. 

As  women  dress,  in  the  adoi-nment  sense,  either  directly  to 
please  men,  or,  indirectly,  in  rivalry  of  each  other  with  reference 
to  pleasing  men,  as  one  would  be  blind  not  to  see  at  a  watering- 
place,  who  observes  the  change  that  takes  place  in  the  dress  of 
women  as  soon  as  the  men  begin  to  appear  in  numbers,  it  is 
conclusive  that  men  are  pleased  with  form  and  color  as  having 
functions  in  the  natural  attractions  of  the  sexes,  and  that 
women  well  know  and  utilize  the  fact.  It  is  therefore  certain, 
also,  that  women  of  sense  recognize  men  as  having  discernment 
in  form  and  color  equal  to  that  possessed  by  themselves.  The 
statement  about  women  being  gifted  with  finer  taste  than  men  is 
belied  by  the  history  of  every  decorative  as  well  as  higher  art. 
Physiologically,  the  sexes  ought  to  be,  and  experience  shows 
that  they  are,  adapted  to  each  other  in  mind  and  taste, — in  every, 
physical  and  mental  attribute.  The  society  condition  and  aspect 
of  men  and  women  in  all  civilized  countries  are  the  joint  product 

(143) 


144  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

of  individuals  of  both  sexes, more  attention  to  dress  appearing 
in  women  than  in  nun  solely  because  such  is  the  wish  of  the 
men  as  well  as  of  the  women  themselves.  The  day  was  when 
men  were  quite  as  fastidious,  fanciful, and  fantastic  as  women  in 
their  dross.  Now  they  otherwise  satisfy  their  pride  and  vanity 
by  making  birds  of  paradise  of  their  mates,  and  taking  to  them- 
selves some  of  the  credit  for  their  choice  and  taste.  The  Lon- 
don Daily  News  said,  not  long  ago,  when  discussing  late  attempts 
in  England  to  change  the  costume  of  gentlemen  for  dress  occa- 
sions, "  Black  makes  a  suitable  background  for  anything.  •  It  is 
characteristic  of  the  abdicated  lordship  of  man  that  he  now 
dresses  only  to  show  off  his  wife's  clothes." 

The  standard  of  the  da}'  in  taste  in  dress,  no  matter  what 
the  era  of  the  world,  represents  little  beyond  love  of  variety. 
Being,  up  to  a  certain  point,  imperative,  it  introduces,  on  account 
of  the  existence  of  ill-adapted  physical  traits,  an  immense  amount 
of  incongruity  with  every  change.  But,  accepting  it  for  what  it 
is,  with  its  greater  than  of  old  but  still  small  latitude,  it  is  onl}- 
just  to  say  that  American  women  are  given  b}'  the  fashionable 
centre  of  the  world  the  palm  among  foreigners  for  general  good 
dressing.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  for  every  thou- 
sand who  go  abroad  a  million  stay  at  home  ;  that  of  the  thousand 
less  than  a  hundred  may  enter  circles  of  society  competent  to 
judge  of  what  they  speak;  and  that  a  still  further  allowance 
must  be  made  for  the  influence  of  the  late  undisguised  foreign 
opinion  of  American  feminine  charms  in  money.  But,  with  all 
these  allowances,  taking  in  sum  the  expression  of  opinion  abroad, 
the  expression  of  opinion  by  foreigners  traveling  in  this  country, 
and  the  opinion  of  our  own  countrymen,  wdio  tr*avel  in  Europe 
as  well  as  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  own  land,  the  fe- 
male population  in  this  country  is  better  dressed  than  any  other 
in  the  world,  and  the  dressing  of  its  female  fashionable  society 
compares  with  any  to  be  seen  in  Europe. 


THE    EVOLUTION    OF    THE    AMERICAN    GIRL.  145 

One  thing,  even  if  there  were  no  other,  would,  after  making 
all  due  allowance  for  the  imperiousness  of  fashion,  confound  with 
men  the  claim  of  unthinking  women  to  greater  taste  for  their  sex 
as  compared  with  the  taste  of  men, — that  multitudes  of  women 
do  not  take  advantage  of  even  the  little  latitude  allowed  by  the 
mandates  of  fashion,  in  adaptation  to  the  demands  of  individual 
requirement  of  what  must  in  the  main  be  accepted.  A  girl  is 
tall  and  narrow,  let  us  sajr,  as  well  as  square  in  the  shoulders ; 
then,  if  the  fashion  be  high-shouldered,  many  such  will  wear  ex- 
cessively epauletted  puffs  on  seal-skin  and  other  coats,  and  what 
is  wrong  in  nature  is  thus  made  doubly  wrong  by  art.  If  they 
are  long-waisted, — one  of  the  greatest  blemishes  in  female  form, — 
then  thousands  of  girls  exaggerate  the  exaggeration  of  the 
fashion,  until,  from  armpit  to  hip,  the  body  looks  like  a  post. 
Given  a  dumpy  or  a  fat  woman,  whether  tall  or  short,  and  she 
will  be  often  found  caparisoned  in  seal-skin  or  in  velvet  of  the 
deepest  pile.  Let  some  one  be  framed  bj'  nature  to  move  Avith 
elephantine  mien  and  tread,  and  she  will  often  wear,  drawn  in  at 
the  waist,  with  consummate  assurance  of  superlative  grace,  an 
India  shawl  or  gauzy  fabric  at  eventide  that  would  make  bewitch- 
ing the  figure  of  a  willowy  girl.  Why  do  they  not  see,  if  femi- 
nine taste  is  universal,  that  back  of  design,  execution,  and  richest 
fabric  must  lie  a  profound  sense  of  congruity,  if  one  would  se- 
cm*e  the  effect  of  dress  ?  Suitableness  to  station,  place,  occasion, 
age,  weather,  and  other  conditions  cannot  be  ignored. 

As  Paris  accords  to  American  women  of  society  a  rank  equal 
to  that  of  the  native  Parisian  in  the  art  of  dressing,  and  the  just- 
ness of  the  view  is  confirmed  by  other  evidence,  we  are  entitled 
to  plume  ourselves  on  account  of  this  exalted  praise,  from  which 
Englishwomen  are  rigidly  excluded  as  representing  the  lowest 
grade  of  refined  inelegance.  But  the  question  here  arises, — and 
it  is  the  important  one  for  which  we  set  out  to  speak  upon  eventu- 
ally,— whether  there  are  not,  for  beauty,  better  things  than  its 


146  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

accessories.  In  the  fundamental  attributes  of  attractiveness 
American  women  far  excel  the  French.  Where  American  women 
excel  tlic  French  is  in  beauty  and  greater  breadth  of  mind,  :in<l 
where  Frenchwomen  excel  the  American  is  in  elegance  and  grace. 
The  American  has  the  better  part,  for  elegance  and  grace  will 
grow  in  lier,  l>ut  the  Frenchwoman  is  distanced  beyond  recovery 
in  the  field  of  beaut}'.  Beauty  in  the  Frenchwoman  of  the  cen- 
tury is  as  rare  :>s  it  is  common  in  the  American  during  the  hist 
twenty  years.  Modern  observers,  with  one  accord,  note  the  de- 
ficiencj'  of  both  male  and  female  beauty  in  France.  The  men 
are  generally  short  and  hirsute,  and  the  women  rarely  handsome, 
their  charm  consisting  in  their  elegance  and  vivacity.  Mark 
Twain  long  ago  put  on  record  his  opinion  of  the  beauty  of  the 
renowned  grisette.  But,  perhaps,  of  all  plainness  in  France, 
that  of  the  middle-aged  Parisian  bourgeoise  is  the  most  marked. 
Brought  up  in  a  social  atmosphere  where  the  idea  of  sexuality 
lies  less  dormant  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world,  finding  it  next 
to  impossible  renoncer  a  plaire,  as  she  calls  it,  she  frequently 
makes  herself  to  unaccustomed  eves  hideous  in  her  antique 
youthfnlness.  To  grow  old  gracefully  is  not  given  to  any  one 
who  tries  to  seem,  not  younger  than  one  is,  but  younger  than  one 
feels  in  hod}'  and  mind,  for  age  is  not  strictly  conformable  to 
years.  The  verses  in  which  Beranger  describes  the  frisky  grand- 
mother, enlivened  with  a  glass  of  wine,  and  become  confidential 
to  her  minx  of  a  granddaughter  on  the  subject  of  her  youthful 
love-passages,  is  not  so  far-fetched  as  it  might  appear  to  the  in- 
experienced. At  least,  an  old  Frenchman  with  whom  we  were 
acquainted  must  have  thought  the  picture  life-like,  as  he  once  glee- 
fully recited  to  us  a  verse  of  the  song,  ending  with  its  refrain  : — 

Combien  je  reprette 
Mon  bras  6i  dodu, 
Ma  jambe  bien  faite, 
Et  le  temps  perdu. 

It  is,  then,  to  he  concluded,  if  we  have  so  far  written  to  any 


THE   EVOLUTION   OF    THE    AMERICAN    GIRL.  147 

purpose,  that  in  the  person  of  the  wearer  there  is  something 
more  admirable  than  in  mere  clothes  themselves.  The  kernel 
ought  to  be  more  valuable  and  attractive  than  the  husk  or  shell. 
Sensible  women  seek  to  make  more  than  clothes-racks  of  them- 
selves ;  but,  alas!  how  many  there  are  who  care  not  what  lies  be- 
neath, and  are  oblivious,  if  they  ever  knew,  that  the  Queen  of 
Sheba's  wealth  of  attire  would  not  compensate  for  a  carriage 
which  makes  its  richness  grotesque  !  The  most  seductive  of  (by- 
goods,  even  though  they  be  supported  by  the  shaping  of  the 
finest  cotton-wool,  do  not  represent  female  grace  and  beauty. 
The  wise  matrons  and  virgins  will  not  be  provoked  if  we  speak 
feelingly  in  the  interest  of  the  whole  of  the  adorable  sex.  Espe- 
cially would  it  be  ungrateful  to  hold  us  responsible  for  plain 
speaking,  when  our  whole  intent  and  aim  are  to  indicate  ways 
and  means  hy  which  the  results  generall}*  desired,  and  never  suc- 
cessfully sought  otherwise,  are  the  likeliest  of  attainment. 

Before  the  glance  of  an  anatomist,  or  even  of  a  connoisseur 
in  female  beauty,  all  art  of  dressing  not  based  on  natural  gifts, 
is  the  flimsiest  artifice,  the  most  transparent  disguise.  The 
cotton-fields  of  the  world  have  not  within  their  bursting  pods 
the  witching  grace  and  beauty  that  lie  in  the  individual  moods 
of  nature-  in  the  female  form.  Suppose,  for  a  moment,  that  an 
artist  were  to  fill  out  eveiy  lacking  roundness,  and  the  best 
Parisian  corset-shapes  were  to  compel  too  great  exuberance  to 
yield,  still  standing  in  the  way  would  remain  the  .stalwart  fact 
that  artificial  figure  and  constraint  to  the  explosive  point 
cannot  imitate  the  subtle  lines  of  beauty,  or,  more  than  all, 
impart  to  movement  the  slightest  grace.  jS"o  stern  mentors  we, 
or  we  should  be  moralizing  on  the  dangers  of  female  beauty. 
instead  of  seeking  to  improve  it.  We  do  not  forget  the  sound 
observations  of  the  Herr  Professor  Teufelsdrockh,  when  he  says, 
"  Thus  in  this  one  pregnant  subject  of  clothes,  rightly  under- 
stood, is  included  all   that  men  have  thought,  dreamed,  done, 


148  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

and  been;  the  whole  external  universe  and  what  it  holds  is  but 
clothing;  and  the  essence  of  all  science  lies  in  the  philosophy  of 
clothes."  And  again,  "  Is  not  the  lair  fabric  of  society  itself, 
with  its  royal  mantles  and  pontifical  stoles,  whereby,  from 
nakedness  and  dismemberment,  we  are  organized  into  polities, 
into  nations,  and  a  whole  co-operating  mankind,  the  creation,  as 
has  often  been  irrefragably  evinced,  of  the  tailor  alone?"  On 
the  contrary,  well  do  we  know  besides,  with  that  cynical 
professor,  that  clothes  are  the  invention  of  the  arch-enemy  of 
mankind,  or,  at  least,  that  his  interference  in  earthly  affairs  led 
to  their  introduction,  and  moreover,  that  so  originating  with  the 
father  of  lies,  the}'  cannot  be  expected  to  be  perfectly  truthful. 
But,  therefore,  our  aim  should  be  all  the  more,  while  accepting 
the  inevitable,  to  demonstrate  that  woman  in  this  present  era  is 
more  worthy  than  her  clothes,  and  by  improving  the  truthful- 
ness of  her  form  and  the  untruthfulness  of  them,  to  shame  the 
very  devil. 

'Retrospectively  going  back  just  fifty  years,  and  confining 
our  attention  to  this  country,  wre  shall  find  that  evolution  in 
politics,  society,  and  clothes  have  been  coincident  in  time. 
Politics  having  no  relation  to  clothes  in  the  {esthetic  sense, 
being  more  often  found  in  compan}"  with  seediness,  tl*e  last  two 
conditions,  which  are  intimately  associated,  alone  invite  our 
attention.  Just  fift}'  years  ago  California  was  not  thought  of, 
Chicago  wras  only  three  years  old,  Dickens  was  describing  New 
York  as  a  long,  flat,  straggling  city,  Avhile  Philadelphia  had  been 
built  only  about  half-way  across  from  the  Delaware  to  the 
Schuylkill.  Scattering  F.  F.V.'s  represented,  in  the  North  as 
well  as  in  the  South,  the  cream  of  society.  Only  the  three 
hundred  (leaving  out  the  Thespians)  of  Therinopjdce  were 
known  to  fame,  the  six  hundred  had  not  charged  at  Balaclava, 
and  the  four  hundred  had  not  emerged  from  the  hoary  ancestry 
of  New  York.     The  nouveaux  riches  lived  and  died  unknown. 


THE   EVOLUTION    OF   THE   AMERICAN   GIRL.  149 

Society  in  all  ranks  plodded  on  from  year  to  year  with  scarcely 
any  but  the  local  excitements  of  a  schiitzen  park  or  of  a  volun- 
teer-fireman's fight ;  the  universal  plethora  finding  at  last  some 
relief  in  the  blood-letting  of  the  aggressive  Mexican  war.  That 
over,  the  humdrum  of  national  and  social  existence  returned, 
tempered  by  the  ever-present  social  sentiment  of  all  communities 
as  to  how  we  apples  swim. 

Then  came  the  first  event  since  the  Revolution  which 
profoundly  stirred  the  pulses  of  the  people.  Amidst  it,  all 
social  lines  were  swept  away,  and  out  of  a  heterogeneous  people 
living  under  one  government  came  to  the  great  majority  a  deep 
sense  of  nationality.  Fused  and  welded  in  the  fierce  heat  of  the 
war,  the  diverse  elements,  and  even  the  side  which  finally  broke 
away,  shattered  under  the  momentum  of  the  advancing  hosts, 
learned  to  recognize  and  admit  that,  after  all,  blood  is  thicker 
than  water,  and  that  it  now,  more  firmly  than  ever  before, 
cements  the  bond  of  union.  Destruction  untold  there  was,  of 
course,  during  this  fearful  time,  blight  of  all  sorts,  but  from 
them  has  emerged  a  nation  feeling  in  almost  every  individual 
man  that  its  destiny  lies  within  itself  to  be  the  most  favored  and 
powerful  upon  earth. 

What  social  phases  had  been  exhibited  during  that  quarter 
of  a  century!  The  population  at  the  beginning  (1840),  of  not 
quite  twenty  millions,  was,  by  the  end  of  the  war,  about  twice 
that  amount,  dispersed  over  an  immense  territory,  its  greatest 
densit}^  still  upon  the  Atlantic  sea-board.  The  primitive  times 
from  the  Revolution,  lingering  in  1840,  when  many  children  still 
attended  the  public  schools  of  the  cit}^  bare-foot,  had  been 
gradually  disappearing,  b}^  the  beginning  of  the  war  had  almost 
gone,  and  by  the  end  of  it  had  finally  departed.  Ideas  of 
comfort,  luxury,  manners,  dress,  had  become,  however  correct 
or  otherwise,  common  property.  Dwellings  there  had  been 
plenty  in    1840,  architecture   scarcely  airy.     The  wood-fire,  so 


150  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    .\\l>    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

delightful  now  to  tin"  fancy,  was  in  1840  still  lingering  in  old- 
fashioned  houses,  having  roasted  the  preceding  generations  in 
tin-  face  while  it  left  their  backs  to  freeze.  The  beginning  of 
the  century  bad  seen  people  not  even  properly  shod  for  inclem- 
encies of  weatber.  Our  grandfathers  and  great-grandfathers  got 
along  pretty  well,  for,  about  the  beginning  of  the  century, 
except  for  dress  occasions,  they  had  given  up  small-clot  lies 
and  adopted  the  much-ridiculed  pantaloons.  When  they  went 
abroad  in  rain,  hail,  or  snow,  they  put  on  stout  hoots  ;  but  their 
helpmates,  as  late  as  1840,  were  still  wearing  paper-soled  slippers 
over  their  white-stockinged  feet,  crossed  by  laces  which  passed 
behind  the  ankle  and  were  tied  in  front.  If  they  must,  needs 
brave  the  weather,  they  had  no  other  resource  than  to  drag  on 
primitive  round-toed  rubber  shoes,  which,  if  cold,  required 
thawing  out  before  the}'  could  be  got  on  even  at  the  expense  of 
exertions  which  would  have  cost  a,  saint  his  canonization. 
Underclothing  was  not  so  suitable  or  profuse  in  quantity  as  it 
is  now,  and  we  much  fear  that  the  heirlooms  of  ivory  hands  on 
ebony  staffs  betoken  that  the  skin  at  the  beginning  of  the 
century  was  not  in  so  113-gienic  a  condition  as  it  is  at  present. 
Despite  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  the  sturdy  souls  that  history 
depicts  as  the  almost  invariable  possession  of  the  women  of  the 
Revolutionary  period,  and  the  sturdy  bodies  which  portraits 
often  represent  them  to  have  had,  it  is  the  fact,  that  after  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  up  to  about  1840,  American  women  of 
the  better  classes  did  not  give  evidence  of  anything  like  exuber- 
ant health.  First  of  all,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  any  people 
can  in  a  few  generations  become  reconciled  to  the  entirely  new 
conditions  which  cease  to  manifest  themselves  in  the  S3rstem  by 
what  we  call  acclimatization.  They  were  in  the  cities,  as. 
countrywomen  generally  are  now,  too  much  housed,  took  too 
little  exercise,  had  too  little  amusement,  and  were  not  health- 
fully clothed.     The  year  1840  saw  the  remnants  of  the  decaying 


THE    EVOLUTION    OF    THE    AMERICAN    GIRL.  151 

practice  of  excruciatingly  tight-lacing,  of  which  a  concomitant 
was  an  occasional  fainting  fit  in  company,  associated  with  much 
sympathy  among  women  for  such  sweet  sensibility,  although 
some  of  the  ungodly  did  titter  as  they  snipped  the  laces  of  the 
guiltily  refractory  stays.  Albums  were  indispensable  adjuncts 
as  safety-valves  of  sentiment  among  girls,  where  platonic  friend- 
ship luxuriantly  flourished.  The  tendencj-  of  the  times  was 
humdrum,  narrow,  and  lackadaisical,  toward  nervous  constitu- 
tion, and  to  t3'pes  physically  far  inferior  to  those  which  are 
familiar  to  us  now. 

A  new  era  set  in  about  1850,  of  which  the  dawn  was  scarcely 
perceptible  ten  years  before,  and  steadily  advanced  in  the  phys- 
ical and  mental  culture  of  women,  in  which  the  progress  since 
has  been  truly  astonishing.  Much  as  remains  to  be  clone,  vicious 
as  are  the  relics  of  the  former  unl^gienic  life,  in  need  of  air,  exer- 
cise, and  healthful  dress,  women  stand,  as  it  were,  on  a  mountain- 
top  of  freedom  compared  with  their  condition  only  fifty  }^ears  ago. 
Those  most  favored  of  fortune,  who  are  at  the  same  time  en- 
dowed with  good  sense,  leave  in  their  behalf  scarcely  anj-thing 
to  be  desired.  Most  seem  to  be  in  some  degree  advancing. 
If  we  see  many  stragglers,  it  must  he  recognized  that  such  must 
ever  be  present  in  the  march  of  progress.  They  serve  at  least 
to  make  conspicuous  the  merit  of  those  who  lead  the  van. 

The  chief  rule  for  the  promotion  of  beaut}'  are  the  seeking 
of  fresh  air,  cleanliness  of  person,  moderate  exercise,  nutritious, 
palatable,  and  varied  food,  unfettered  body  and  limbs,  regular 
work,  with  occasional  amusement,  and  regularity  of  habits  in 
walking  and  sleeping.  Of  all  else,  subservient  to  these,  we  shall, 
as  in  duty  bound,  speak  when  we  come  to  details,  in  their  proper 
place.  We  repeat  that  the  present  generation  is  far  superior  in 
health  and  beauty  to  those  generations  which  have  preceded  it. 
The  same  improved  conditions  which  have  led  to  this  consum- 
mation are  still  operative  to  raise  future  generations  to  a  still 


152  llKUKltl  TV.    11  h.A  1.  I'll,    AND   PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

higher  plane  of  being.  The  Countess  of  Jersey  Baid  lately,  in 
mi  article  in  TJie  Nineteenth  Century,  repudiating  the  idea  that 
in  England  village-girls  are  not  so  robust  as  they  wen' : — 

Granting,  however,  as  beside  the  present  question,  that  village-girls  are 
imt  >.>  Bturdy  as  tiny  used  t<>  1m-,  is  it  |»>s>iMr  for  anj <•  with  tin-  most  elemen- 
tary powers  and  opportunities  for  observation  to  deny  that  the  majority  of  girls 
••  in  society  "  are  not  only  as  strong  us  their  predecessors  of,  Bay,  thirty  years  ago, 
but  that  tiny  tin'  finer  ami  taller  than  these  were,  and  possess  a  greater  air  of 
health  and  vitality?  ....  The  young  lady,  with  fur  around  her  boots, 
ami  her  charming  companions  stand  Bhivering  on  the  brink  of  the  pond, 
ami  never  think  of  assuming  the  skates  of  which  Mr.  "Winkle  is  60  Bternly 
deprived.  To  have  possessed  any  boots  at  all  must  have  hern  a  considerable  ad- 
vance  on  the  practice  of  earlier  days;  as  both  the  text  ami  illustrations  of  old 
novels  represent  the  heroines  as  walking  about  in  the  country  in  thin  Bhoes. 
Miss  Edge  worth 'a  Angelina,  in  L'Amie  Inconnue,  wanders  on  the  Welsh  mount- 
ains in  slippers  "  of  the  thinnest  kid-leather,"  and  we  are  not  surprised  to  learn 
that,  when  she  hist  her  way,  one  fell  on'  and  the  other  was  cut  through  by  the 

Stolli-S. 

If  these  things  are  true  of  the  England  of  to-day,  how  much 
more  wide-spread  the  favorable  change  of  which  the  Countess 
speaks  is  in  this  country,  where  prosperit}'  is  far  more  widely 
diffused  than  in  England.  If,  by  taking  thought,  it  is  not  possi- 
ble within  a  life-time  to  increase  one's  stature  by  a  cubit,  it.is 
at  least,  as  experience  is  proving,  possible  and  certain,  by  the 
observance  of  hygienic  laws  to  strengthen  and  beautify  the 
person,  and  to  leave  the  precious  gift  to  posterity. 

The  concomitant  social  aspects  of  the  war-times  were  not 
less  striking  in  their  way  than  were  the  political  convulsion,  up- 
heaval, and  recasting  of  outgrown  conditions.  Social  barriers, 
as  was  noted,  were  completel}'  broken  down  ;  rich  men,  as  such, 
first  appeared  prominently  upon  the  scene  of  affairs;  society  re- 
organized upon  a  more  liberal,  more  luxurious,  and  less  virtuous 
basis.  The  demi-moiidaine,  far  more  influential  than  the  Greek 
hetaira  had  ever  been,  imposed  her  laws  of  dress  across  the 
ocean.  Some  American  women  could  even  copy  her  lines  of 
languor  that  mean  debauchery,  while  all,  more  or  less  know- 
ingly or   unknowingly,  were  chained,  under   penalty  of  ridicule, 


THE    EVOLUTION   OF   THE    AMERICAN   GIRL.  153 

to  demi-mondaine  fashion's  chariot-wheels.  So  it  has  remained 
to  some  degree  even  to  the  present  day,  the  victories  of  the 
Germans  working  only  partial  emancipation.  But  the  day  is 
not  far  distant,  as  it  seems  to  us,  when  the  American  woman, 
then  the  most  educated,  beautiful,  and  graceful  of  her  sex  upon 
earth,  will  no  longer  he  in  leading-strings  to  Paris  or  any 
other  place,  but,  by  the  right  of  her  superiority  in  mind  and 
body,  will,  if  there  be  any  law  to  be  imposed,  lay  it  down  for  the 
rest  of  the  world. 

French  dressing  is  the  most  highly  artificial  of  any  that  has 
ever  been  devised.  It  recognizes  no  national  costume,  no 
•ethnic  growth  of  garb.  It  would,  if  it  were  able,  take  from  the 
lovely  Spanish  maid  her  enchanting  mantilla,  and  in  place  of  it 
bestow  upon  her  a  Parisian  hat.  All  times  and  peoples  seen 
through  it  become  blended  in  what  Mr.  Mantalini  would  call  one 
demnition  body,  in  which  we  at  the  present  period  see  our  Biddy 
wandering  in  bewildering  richness  of  attire  to  the  portals  where 
she  expects  to  save  her  soul.  Sooth  to  say,  no  better  is  to  be 
expected  of  the  utter  want  of  taste  and  originality  among 
thousands  of  our  countrywomen.  For  who,  after  all,  must  be 
excluded  from  the  title  of  our  countrywomen?  All  must  be 
classed  as  such  who  have  arrived  as  immigrants  Irv  ship-loads,  as 
well  as  those  who  have,  generation  after  generation,  lived  among 
refinements  not  to  be  exceeded  by  those  of  Europe.  Can  the 
woman  who  steps  out  of  sabots  or  brogans  on  our  shores,  who 
had  never  at  one  time  more  than  a  single  linse}r-woolsey  gown, 
who  had  never  enjoyed  variety  of  food,  who  had  all  her  life 
been  stinted  in  mind  and  body,  be  expected  to  see  that  silks  and 
velvets  and  feathers,  pitchfork-piled,  and  meat  three  times  a  day, 
do  not  constitute  the  sum  of  human  bliss  ?  How  few  there 
are  of  such  who  sometimes  throng  the  streets  of  our  large  cities, 
who  are  as  modest  as  Teresa  Panza,  and  could  possibly  suspect 
the  truth,  as  she  did,  when  she  thought  that  people  might  say 


154  1IEHKDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

of  her  as  countess, "  See  how  proud  the  slattern  goes;  yesterday 
she  was  spinning  of  tlax,  and  went  to  church  with  her  petticoat 
over  her  head,  and  now  to-day  she  goes  in  a  cloak  with  brooches, 
puffed  up  so  big  thai  she  cannot  see  us." 

There  arc  in  the  female  form,  as  well  as  in  the  male,  certain 
main  proportions  from  which  there  can  be  no  great  divergence 
without  entailing  blemish.  It  is  in  consequence  of  this  fact  that 
un  femininely -formed  women,  but  never  femininely-formed  ones, 
look  well  as  pages  upon  the  stage.  These  main  proportions  are 
the  length  from  the  top  of  the  head  to  the  top  of  the  shoulder, 
from  the  top  of  the  shoulder  to  the  waist,  from  the  waist  to  the 
hip-joint  (the  hip-joint,  not  the  hip-bone),  and  the  length  from 
the  hip-joint  to  the  sole  of  the  foot.  It  ought  to  be  obvious, 
however,  that  the  length  from  the  top  of  the  head  to  the  top  of 
the  shoulder  may,  with  reference  to  the  other  dimensions,  be 
proportionally  correct,  and  yet  that  the  shoulder  itself  may  be 
unfemininely  square.  Besides  that,  the  curve  from  the  jaw-bone 
to  the  extreme  end  of  the  shoulder,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
lovely  of  the  typical  curves  in  woman,  may  not  be  correct. 
Therefore  it  is  that  these  and  other  proportions  are  not  to  be 
assumed  as  correct  because  those  which  we  have  noted  as  the 
main  proportions  chance  to  be.  The  main  proportions  may  be 
correct  and  the  details  wrong.  All  that  is  intended,  b}r  speaking 
of  the  main  proportions,  is  to  indicate  that  these  are  indispens- 
able as  the  basis  of  fine  form,  and  that  without  them  no  correct- 
ness of  form  in  single  members  can  compensate  for  the  defect. 

In  all  the  higher,  as  compared  with  the  lower,  races  of  man- 
kind the  length  of  the  leg  is  greater  and  that  of  the  arm  less. 
This  was  so  well  known  to  the  Greeks  that  their  statues  of  the 
gods  and  demi-gods  (and  it  must  be  remembered  that  those 
st at ues  were  always  intended  to  represent  ideal  human  form)  are 
given  great  length  of  lower  limb,  so  as  to  suggest  greater  grace 
or  dignity  of  carriage.     There  is  among  women,  as  compared 


THE    EVOLUTION    OF    THE    AMERICAN    GIRL.  155 

with  men  of  the  same  race,  no  essential  difference  in  the  relative 
length  of  the  upper  and  lower  limbs  ;  but,  inasmuch  as  the  thigh 
of  woman,  unlike  that  of  man,  gradually  expands  from  the  knee 
upward,  without  appreciable  break  in  the  curve,  until  it  flows 
into  the  rounding  hip,  reversing  the  curve  only  at  the  waist,  the 
effect  of  relatively  greater  length  of  the  lower  limbs  is  produced, 
and  is  one  of  the  characteristic  beauties  of  the  sex.  It  i-.  per- 
haps, the  effect  produced  by  this  cause  which  Tennyson  had  in 
mind  when  he  wrote#  "A  daughter  of  the  gods,  divinely  tall, 
and  most  divfnely  fair."  The  effect  of  height  in  women  beyond 
the  actual  stature  is,  of  course,  produced  by  the  relative,  not  the 
absolute,  length  of  lower  limbs. 

All  artists  and  competent  critics,  the  Song  of  Solomon,  and 
amorous  verses  of  all  ages  are  in  accord  as  to  the  special  femi- 
nine beauty  of  the  bosom,  women  themselves  evidencing,  through 
their  universal  habit  of  dressing,  appreciation  of  the  fact,  some- 
times within  and  sometimes  beyond  the  bounds  of  modest}-.  It 
would  therefore  seem,  at  the  first  glance,  as  if  every  individual 
woman,  of  all  races  and  countries,  would  know  what  constitutes 
beauty  in  the  bosom.  Yet,  that  this  is  not  the  case  is  clearly 
proved  by  the  fact  that  women  sometimes  congratulate  themselves 
upon  their  ability  to  dress  low  because  the  bosom  happens  to  be 
low.  A  low  bosom  does  not,  by  airy  means,  represent  a  high, 
civilized  type  of  female  conformation.  The  lowest  type  of  bosom 
is  to  be  found  onby  among  savages,  whose  women  sometimes  have 
breasts  so  elongated  as  to  be  passed,  like  flaccid  bags,  over  the 
shoulder  or  under  the  armpit,  for  the  purpose  of  suckling  their 
children.  No  such  deformit}*,  however,  is  to  be  found  anywhere 
among  the  higher  races  of  mankind.  The  condition  represents 
an  extremely  low  physical  type,  not  common  even  to  all  savage 
race 

Among  the  higher  races,  an  inferior  type  of  bosom  goes  no 
farther  than  to  be  extremely  low  or  flat,  and  these  conditions 


15G  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONA!   BEAUTY. 

conjoined  evidence  little  vitality.  The  highest  type  of  bosom,  on 
the  contrary,  is  not  only  placed  well  up  on  the  chest,  but  can  be 
best  described  as  of  slightly  pine-apple  form.  The  female  chest 
is  normally  more  prominent  than  man's,  and  the  bosom,  to  be 
beautiful,  should  occupy  its  most  salient  portion.  In  passing, 
it  is  well  to  utter  here  a  caution  against  the  aesthetic  char- 
latanism which  sometimes  professes  to  develop  the  bosom  by 
mechanical  means.  The  glandular  structure,  determining  its  size 
and  contour,  forbids  the  possibility  of  attaining  success  in  any 
such  way.  Unless  its  glandular  constitution  can* be  improved 
in  nutrition,  by  which  the  glands  themselves  would  undergo 
increase  of  tissue,  nothing  can  be  done  for  modification  of  the 
bosom  either  as  to  its  size  or  shape,  and  the  veriest  quack  could 
not  pretend  to  change  its  position. 

It  follows,  from  what  has  been  said  as  to  the  main  propor- 
tions of  the  figure,  that  all  modes  of  dressing  should  carefully 
avoid  excess.  Whatever  may  be  the  fashion,  such  subtle  modi- 
fication of  it  should  be  adopted  as  cannot  possibly  serve  to  in- 
crease natural  defects,  or  to  exaggerate  beauties  which,  having 
reached  their  natural  limit,  would  become  by  exaggeration  de- 
fects. This  latter  mistake  represents  an  unfortunate  tendency 
among  mankind  generally.  It  does  not  follow,  because  a  huge 
waist  or  foot  is  unsightly,  that  the  smaller  the  waist  and  the  foot 
the  prettier.  Waists  are  to  be  seen  now,  even  in  the  diminished 
practice  of  tight-lacing,  that  make  one  fairly  creeble,  and  feet  so 
pinched  and  stumpy  that  they  look  more  like  hoofs  than  feet. 
What  looks  unnatural,  whether  natural  or  artificial,  conveys  dis- 
satisfaction to  the  spectator.  A  wasp-waist,  violating  the  con- 
ception of  well-formed  womanhood,  elicits  not  only  disgust  at 
the  vulgarity  of  it,  but  abolishes  sexual  attraction.  Tight  shoes, 
always  evident  as  tight,  bear  the  impress  of  vulgarity,  and  make 
graceful  movement  impossible.  Even  gloves  too  small  for  the 
band  of  the  wearer  are  abominable.     Few  things  can  exceed  the 


THE   EVOLUTION   OF   THE   AMERICAN   GIRL.  157 

vulgarity  of  a,  pudgy  hand  crimped  in  a  short,  tight  glove, 
whence  at  the  top  it  bulges  like  a  plucked  partridge-breast. 

Probably  nothing  that  has  taken  place  in  the   revolution 

which  has  changed  women's  dress  and  bodily  habits  during  the 
last  half-century  has  been  more  conducive  to  their  well-being 
than  their  general  disuse  of  extremely  tight-lacing.  The  practice 
is  inconsistent  with  health,  inconsistent  with  beauty  and  with 
grace,  and  inconsistent  with  gentility.  The  pressure  exercised 
to  the  injury  of  the  internal  organs  of  the  body,  upon  whose 
healthy  action  the  tone  of  the  whole  system  depends,  ceases  in 
injurious  effect  onby  with  the  skeleton  itself,  whose  deformity 
under  such  treatment  is  shown  by  specimens  in  our  anatomical 
museums.  The  very  vital  air,  the  free  gift  of  heaven,  is  not 
used  as  nature  intended.  Look  at  the  face  and  walk  of  any 
tight-lacing  girl  or  woman,  for  the  unhealthy  index  of  the  trav- 
est}r  of  nature  through  artifice,  which  but  degrades  the  form. 
There  is  no  healthy  breathing  for  mankind  unless  it  proceeds 
from  the  depths  of  the  lungs  of  an  unconstrained  thorax. 
Rabbits  breathe  from  the  upper  parts  of  their  lungs,  for  it  is 
their  nature  so  to  do,  but  not  that  of  human  beings,  and  in  conse- 
quence they  seem  to  be  nibbling  at  the  air,  as  some  women  really 
are  without  so.  seeming,  unless  they  are  betrayed  by  being  called 
upon  for  some  sudden  exertion  while  still  confined  in  the 
strait-waistcoat  of  tightly-laced  corsets. 

How  any  one  can  expect  to  possess  beaut}7  of  person  without 
freedom  of  movement,  or  to  retain  beaut}7  of  face,  which  is,  as  a 
finality,  simply  irradiation  of  health  and  beauty  of  form,  or  to 
exhibit  grace,  while  hampered  and  fettered  by  dress,  is  a  mys- 
tery. The  practice  among  women  of  wearing  shoes  too  tight  is 
decreasing,  but  it  is  still  far  too  prevalent.  How,  otherwise, 
will  one  account  for  it,  that  women,  the  roundness  of  whose  feet 
gives  them,  in  the  wearing  of  shoes,  great  advantage  over  men 
in  their  rugged,  muscular  development  of  foot,  are  so  often  lame 


158  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

nt  in  years  of  age,  while  men  generally  pass  through  life  with 
only  an  occasional  twinge?  How,  otherwise,  can  one  account 
for  the  fad  that  dealers  in  shoes  tell  us  that  they  often  find  it 

politic  to  mark  women's  shoes  a  number  below  what  they  really 
are?  How,  otherwise,  shall  the  fact  be  accounted  for  that,  when 
we  personally,  before  bathing-shoes  and  stockings  came  into 
fashion,  made  an  inspection  of  a  sea-beach  where  hundreds  of 
fair  feel  were  disporting  themselves  in  the  intervals  of  a  dip  in 
the  water,  we  observed  so  many  marks  exceedingly  like  those 
produced  by  tight  shoes? 

As  we  have  elsewhere  mentioned,  the  Chinese  commonalty, 
who  wear  their  peculiar  shoes  in  which  the  foot  is  rigidly  held, 
lose  the  symmetrical  contour  of  the  calf  of  the  leg.  All  tight 
shoes  of  European  make  have  the  same  effect,  through  not  allow- 
ing free  play  to  the  muscles  of  the  leg.  They  have  some  ill 
effects  which  even  the  Chinese  shoe  has  not,  for  it  is  roomy. 
They  impede  the  circulation  in  the  foot,  thereby  impair  the 
nutrition  of  the  part,  and  cause  it  in  winter  to  suffer  greatly 
from  cold.  They  deform  the  foot  itself,  injure  the  development 
of  the  leg,  and  prevent  the  easy  carriage  of  the  body. 

In  the  work  by  Mr.  Finck,from  which  we  quoted  in  the  last 
chapter,  he  expresses,  as  was  there  mentioned,  the  opinion  that 
the  brunette  type  of  beauty  is  to  supersede  all  other  types  in 
the  Caucasian  race.  We,  on  the  contrary,  think  that  the  future 
will  find  room  for  all  t3*pes  of  beauty,  from  the  delicately-tinted 
blonde  to  the  richest  brunette  tinge,  through  all  the  intermediate 
grades,  from  the  skin  belonging  to  golden  locks,  to  that  through 
every  shade  of  chestnut  and  brown,  through  the  hues  of  Titian 
to  the  deepest  black.  Nature  has  within  her  power  infinite  re- 
sources, and  as  variety  is  one  of  her  most  signal,  ever-pleasing 
charms,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  she  will  limit  it  in  the 
attributes  of  the  fairest  of  her  productions.  All  types  of 
female  beauty  have  their  male  admirers,  mostl}'  bound  exclusively 


THE   EVOLUTION    OF   THE    AMERICAN   GIRL.  1">9 

to  one;  find  the  law  which  this  work  has  sought  clearly  to 
define  renders  it  impossible  that  this  admiration,  which  involves 
sexual  selection,  should  not  for  all  future  time  result  in  llie 
maintenance  and  enhancement,  and  perhaps  increase,  of  various 
types  of  female  beauty. 

This  we  say  and  believe,  despite  the  fact  that  a  theory  has 
been  broached  within  a  few  years  that,  in  the  white  race,  the  dark 
type  of  complexion  must,  as  representing  greater  stamina  than 
the  light  type  of  complexion,  gradually  supersede  the  light  type. 
This  is  equivalent  to  asserting  that,  through  the  force  of  natural 
selection,  the  dark  type  of  complexion,  as  representing  the  more 
vigorous  constitution  as  compared  with  the  light  type,  will  en- 
dure, to  the  exclusion  of  the  other,  as  the  survival  of  the  fittest 
in  individual  and  aggregate  human  life  in  certain  latitudes.  If 
this  theory  represented  fact,  then  it  would  have  to  be  conceded 
that  sexual  selection  could  not,  in  that  event,  contend  against 
natural  selection,  pure  and  simple.  But,  in  the  first  place,  it  may 
be  cogently  replied  that  complexion,  so  far  as  it  signifies  consti- 
tution (and  it  indisputably  does  indicate  traits  of  constitution), 
indicates  it  only  with  reference  to  its  relative  adaptedness  or  un- 
adaptedness  to  climate  ;  in  the  second  place,  that  the  statistics 
so  far  accumulated  in  support  of  the  theory  are,  to  the  best  of 
our  knowledge  and  belief,  chiefly  confined  to  the  British  Islands  ; 
and,  thirdly,  that  they  are  even  there  regarded  as  not  by  any 
means  conclusive.  We  shall,  therefore,  until  otherwise  informed, 
continue  to  believe  that,  in  the  white  race,  within  the  general 
range  of  the  temperate  zones,  dark  and  light  complexions  are 
equally  fitted  to  existing  exterior  physical  conditions,  and  that 
therefore  their  relative  proportions  are  entirely  controllable  by 
sexual  selection. 

Examining  into  the  conditions  of  Spain  existing  through 
the  period  which  is  historical,  we  shall  see  reason  for  the  preva- 
lence there  of  grace  and  beaut}*  at  the  present  time,  and  looking 


160  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

beyond,  into  the  conditions  existing  in  this  country,  we  shall 
also  see,  through apparenl  dissimilarity  of  causes,  that  similarity 
in  them  really  exists,  leading  to  the  conclusion  that  the  future 
promises  for  this  country  a  diffusion  of  the  higher  types  of 
development,  not  to  be  exceeded,  if  equalled,  in  any  other 
portion  of  the  world. 

The  Phoenicians,  of  course,  as  mariners,  first  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  southern  shores  of  Spain,  and  there  they 
planted  some  colonies.  To  the  Greeks,  when  for  the  first  time 
these  settlements  became  known,  they  were,  as  was  all  else  in 
that  direction,  regarded  as  at  the  end  of  the  earth,  the  all- 
encircling  ocean  flowing  beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  When, 
later,  the  countiy  came  to  be  to  some  degree  really  known,  it 
was  discovered  to  be  occupied  by  numerous  fierce,  warlike,  and 
intractable  tribes  engaged  in  ceaseless  struggles  with  one  another. 
Carthage,  being  of  Phoenician  origin,  naturally  affiliated  with 
the  people  of  the  Phoenician  settlements  on  the  Spanish  coast, 
and  thus,  about  three  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  having 
secured  lodgment  there,  gradually  obtained  dominion  over  that 
portion  of  the  country,  and  eventually,  in  a  precarious  way,  over 
most  of  the  remainder,  the  tribes  in  the  extreme  northern  parts 
maintaining  their  independence  in  their  mountain  fastnesses. 

Spain  soon  thereafter  became  the  battle-ground  in  the  rivalry 
between  Romans  and  Carthaginians,  the  former  supplanting  the 
latter  in  the  occupation  of  the  countiy.  The  task  of  subjugation, 
however, had  to  be  again  and  again  i*enewed,and  it  was  not  until 
the  reign  of  Augustus  Cnesar  that  the  countiy  became  finally 
pacified.  In  the  third  century  of  the  Christian  era  it  was  rav- 
aged b}T  the  Franks,  who  made  an  irruption  there,  but  did  not 
remain.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  centuiy,  the  Suevi, 
Vandals,  and  Alani  invaded  the  country,  and  fqr  some  time 
maintained  a  foothold  there,  often  warring  among  themselves. 
About  this  point  of  time,  however,  the  Visigoths,  allied  through 


THE    EVOLUTION    OF   THE    AMERICAN   GIRL.  161 

their  leader,  Ataulphus,  with  the  Emperor  of  Rome,  Honorius, 
entered  Spain,  and  chiefly  under  Walia,  the  successor  of  Ataul- 
phus, who  had  been  murdered  soon  after  his  coming,  the  invading 
Suevi,  Vandals,  and  Alani  were  driven  into  remote  corners  of 
the  country. 

Soon  shaking  off  the  dominion  of  Rome,  which  was  in  its 
decadence,  the  Visigoths  maintained  their  power  in  Spain  for 
three  centuries.  Three  hundred  years  of  comparatively  peace- 
ful rule  seem,  however,  to  have  enervated  them.  They  were 
Christians,  having  accepted  that  faith  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
sixth  century,  and  the  Mohammedans,  separated  from  their 
territory  only  by  the  narrow  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  looked 
longingly  upon  their  possessions.  With  a  feeling  of  unwarrant- 
able security,  they  left  the  entrance  to  the  kingdom  unguarded. 
In  consequence,  in  the  year  711,  a  small  army  of  Saracens 
crossed  over  from  Africa  and  invaded  the  county.  The 
history  of  Spain  thenceforth  for  centuries  represents  constant 
turmoil,  Saracen  princes  fighting  against  each  other,  Christian 
princes  fighting  against  each  other,  and  Christian  and  Saracen 
princes  often  in  alliance  with  each  other  to  secure  ambitious 
ends,  regardless  of  race  or  creed.  For  centuries  all  thought  of 
relief  from  Saracenic  occupation  of  the  countiy  must  have  been 
abandoned,  for  successive  levies  of  infidels  from  Africa  flowed 
into  Spain,  until  at  last  the  occupation  became  more  distinctively 
Moorish  than  Saracenic. 

Finally,  however,  as  the  event  proved,  through  the  continued 
dissensions  of  the  Moorish  princes  and  the  lessening  of  clashing 
interest  among  the  Christian  princes,  the  occupation  became  of 
more  uncertain  tenure.  The  Moors  were  gradually  driven 
farther  to  the  south,  so  that  by  the  year  1266  they  retained  no 
territory  except  Granada  in  all  Spain.  Here,  however,  the  con- 
quering arms  of  the  Spaniards  paused,  and  the  Moors  retained 

possession  of  the  province  of  Granada  for  over  two  centuries. 

11 


162  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

We  are  now  called  upon  to  observe,  not  only  how  many 
different  types  had  become  blended,  to  make  what  we  know  as 
the  Spanish  type  of  form  and  face,  whether  of  ugliness  or  beauty, 
but  further,  a  certain  coincidence  which  cannot  be  a  mere  acci- 
dent in  the  result  observable.  Leaving  out  of  consideration  the 
necessarily  small  influence  to  be  ascribed  to  the  infusion  of  the 
scattered  and  eventually  dislodged  barbaric  tribes  which  have 
been  named,  we  have  left  that  due  to  the  greater  or  less  occupa- 
tion of  the  country  for  over  a  century  by  the  Carthaginians,  the 
Roman  occupation  of  five  centuries,  the  Yisigothic  occupation 
of  three  centuries,  the  Saracenic  and  Moorish  occupation  of  five 
centuries  and  a  half,  and,  including  the  retention  of  Granada, 
seven  and  a  half  centuries. 

The  occupation  of  the  countiy  b}r  the  Carthaginians  must 
have  produced  comparatively  little  result,  because  it  was  'very 
gradual,  never  thorough,  and  always  intermittent.  The  occupa- 
tion by  the  Romans,  Visigoths,  Saracens,  and  Moors  was  of  a 
very  different  character.  The  Romans,  according  to  their  usual 
practice  in  colonization,  largely  intermarried  and  identified  them- 
selves with  the  inhabitants  of  the  countiy.  The  Carthaginians, 
too,  had  done  this,  but  with  far  less  general  opportunity.  So  it 
was  with  the  Visigoths,  who  represented  only  another  phase  of 
Roman  rule.  The  Saracenic  invasion  and  occupation  of  the 
countiy  were  accompanied  by  the  seeking  of  favor  by  thousands 
among  the  Christian  populations,  through  renouncing  their  re- 
ligion, and  becoming  what  is  known  as  renegades,  leading  to 
intermarriage  with  the  Moslem.  In  a  word,  b}- the  time  that  the 
Moors,  after  five  and  a  half  centuries  of  occupation,  evacuated 
all  Spain  but  Granada,  there  must  have  taken  place  a  large  com- 
mingling of  Roman,  Visigothic,  Arabic,  and  Moorish  blood. 
Even  with  the  recoil  of  the  Moors  upon  the  southern  coast, 
leaving  only  Granada  in  their  possession,  their  presence  in  the 
country  for  some  time  afterward  did  not  entirely  cease. 


THE    EVOLUTION   OF    TfFE    AMERICAN    CURL.  L63 

We  know  the  Roman  type,  the  Saracenic,  and  the  Moorish. 
We  may  leave  out  of  question  the  Carthaginians,  because  they 
occupied  Spain  so  transiently  and  ineffectually.  Both  Eastern 
and  Western  Goths,  although  so  dominant  in  places,  left  little 
trace  but  the  memory  of  their  existence.  Ethnologists,  how- 
ever, declare  them  to  have  been  tall,  blonde,  and  high-featured, 
with  light  hair  and  eyes.  Charles  Kingslej",  the  reader  may 
remember,  describes,  in  his  "  Westward  Ho,"  a  distinguished 
Spaniard  of  this  type.  But  it  is  evident  that,  if  there  be  Spanish 
sangre  azul,  or  blue  blood,  in  existence,  it  must  be  that  derived 
from  the  aborigines  of  Spain,  even  if  we  include  among  them 
the  Celts  who  had  burst  through  the  northern  frontier  and  settled 
in  the  heart  of  the  country.  Upon  the  supposition  of  its  exist- 
ence, the  only  possible  source  of  it  would  seem  to  have  been  the 
extreme  north  of  Spain,  where  the  mountaineers  long  held  out 
against  all  invaders.  Yet,  as  against  this  supposition,  we  must 
consider  the  fact  that,  as  early  as  the  times  of  Augustus  Caesar, 
he  so  completely  broke  the  spirit  of  the  tribes  there,  as  to  reduce 
them  to  submission,  or  at  least  to  quiet  and  harmlessness. 
Therefore,  although  there  may  be  Spaniards  of  blood  unmingled 
with  that  of  Carthaginian,  Roman,  Yisigoth,  Saracen,  or  Moor, 
they  must  form  a  very  small  minority  of  the  present  population 
of  Spain. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  present  race  in  Spain  is  dis- 
tinguished among  men  as  well  as  among  women  by  beauty  of 
form  and  gracefulness,  the  elegance  of  Spanish  dancing  being 
proverbial.  As  we  descend  from  north  to  south,  this  sj^mmetry 
and  grace  are  found  to  increase,  so  that  when  a  lady  of  Anda- 
lusia is  spoken  of,  we  feel  as  if  a  synonym  for  grace  and  beauty 
had  been  used,  and  this  is  so  tacitly  conceded  in  Spain  that  a 
lady  of  the  north  feels  complimented  when  thought  to  be  an 
Andalusian.  After  allowing  due  weight  to  the  fact  that  all 
southern,  as  compared  with  northern,  climes  produce  greatei 


164  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    A\l>    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

elegance  of  form,  there  is  still  a  large  margin  left,  in  considering 
the  case  of  Spain,  to  be  accounted  for  by  difference  in  blood. 
Moorish  occupation  was  rolled  bacl<  gradually  to  the  Mediterra- 
nean, and  there  it  stayed,  as  has  been  mentioned,  for  two 
centuries  in  Granada,  which  occupies  on  the  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean  the  very  centre  of  Andalusia.  It  is  in  Andalusia, 
accordingly,  that  we  find  the  frame  and  limbs  of  almost  unrivaled 
symmetry,  hands  of  exquisite  mold,  and  arching  insteps  of 
exquisite  delicacy  of  curve.  Roman,  Teuton,  Saracen,  and 
.Moor  have,  with  the  original  inhabitants  of  Spain,  been  fused 
into  a  type  athletic  and  elegant.  The  physical  attributes  of 
Roman  legionaries,  Visigothic  warriors,  and  the  vigorous  clans. 
nun  of  Spain  have  through  the  centuries  been  softened  as  a 
linalit3'by  the  symmetry  of  the  East,  which  brought  to  the  prod- 
uct elegance  of  form  and  the  languor,  dignity,  and  romance  of 
the  present  race. 

There  would  seem  to  the  superficial  glance  no  analogy  what- 
ever between  the  conditions  existing  in  Spain  during  the  period 
when  it  was  passing  through  the  phases  by  which  its  inhabitants 
became  at  last  a  homogeneous  people,  and  the  conditions  exist- 
ing in  this  country  prior  to  and  succeeding  the  Revolution.  Yet 
the  conditions  are  essentially  similar  as  to  the  elements  which 
prove  effective  in  the  direction  which  we  are  tracing  out.  The 
unessential  differences  lie  in  the  fact  that,  whereas  the  conquests 
and  occupations  of  Spain  by  successive  peoples  of  comparatively 
advanced  civilization  were  effected  by  force  of  arms, continually 
resisted  with  varying  degrees  of  resulting  intermixture  of  races, 
the  conquest  of  America  was,  and  continues  to  be,  by  peaccfid 
occupation  of  the  country  by  peoples  on  the  same  general  plane 
of  civilization  as  those  to  whom  they  come  to  join  their  fortunes. 
Proud  of  the  triefl  capacity  for  self-government  which  seems  to 
be  eminently  characteristic  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  tested  in  a 
political  fiery  furnace  through  the   inheritance  of  slavery,  and 


THE   EVOLUTION   OF   THE    AMERICAN    GIRL.  165 

coming  forth  apparently  unscathed,  we  vaunt  ourselves  upon  our 
Anglo-Saxon  heritage  as  if  we  were  an  Anglo-Saxon  people, 
when  we  have  no  claim  whatever  to  the  title.  What  chiefly  is 
Anglo-Saxon  in  the  country  is  that  minority  and  element  which 
represent  laws,  traditions,  and  language  dominating  the  nation, 
and  welding  it  into  a  coherent  whole.  But  to  say  that  we  are 
an  Anglo-Saxon  people  in  blood  is  to  ignore  the  fact  of  the 
French  and  Spanish  elements  of  Louisiana,  the  Huguenots  of 
South  Carolina,  the  German  and  the  Celt,  who  in  sum  represent 
the  great  majority  of  our  population. 

It  is  a  law  of  physical  and  mental,  in  fact,  of  all  being,  that 
like  organizations  of  equal  excellence  in  different  spheres  produce 
by  their  fusion  higher  types.  The  law  holds  good  even  in. 
language.  Strict  barriers  to  its  native  growth,  or  increase  by 
the  introduction  of  foreign  elements,  maintenance  of  its  rigid 
purity  at  any  point,  restrict  the  bounds  of  expression.  New 
thoughts  require  new  symbols,  and  each  tongue  has  its  special 
excellences.  The  English  language  is  the  strongest  of  all,  be- 
cause it  is  what  philologists  call  a  jargon, — that  is,  of  the  most 
composite  character.  It  has  reached  a  higher  type  by  embodying 
so  many  excellences  of  other  languages.  So  also,  but  in  a  far 
greater  degree,  do  individual  and  racial  life  experience,  embodied 
in  the  life  itself  of  individuals  or  races  of  equal  elevation  in  the 
scale  of  being,  come  to  be,  when  blended,  productive  of  higher 
types.  Hence  has  come  about  the  improvement  of  races  always 
following  the  conquest  of  one  people  by  another  not  essentially 
different  in  the  scale  of  being. 

If  any  of  our  readers  happened  to  hear,  or  hear  of,  the  very 
interesting  lecture  which  Dr.  D.  G.  Brinton  delivered  last  winter 
in  Philadelphia,  at  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  on  the 
subject  of  ancient  and  modern  Spain,  it  will  be  perceived  that 
what  has  just  been  said  regarding  the  pure  blood  of  Spain  is 
contradictory  of  his  statement  in  the  lecture  that  there  is  sangre 


166  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

a:"/,  or  pure  Spanisb  blood.     Even  admitting,  for  the  sake  of 

uncut,  what  is  more  than  doubtful,  that  there  is  in  any  part 
of  the  civilized  world  pure  racial  stock,  let  us  first  of  all  ask 
ourselves,  What  *is  meant  by  the  expression,  or  rather  what 
ought  to  l"'  meant  by  the  expression,  pure  Spanish  blood? 
Undoubtedly,  it  ought  t<>  mean  the  blood  of  the  Iberians,  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Spain.  But  when  Dr.  Brinton  came  to 
demonstrate  the  present  existence  of  pure  Spanish  blood,  it  \v:is 
found  that  his  attempted  demonstration  looked  t o  the  proving 
of  the  present  existence  in  modern  Spain  of  pure  Visigothic 
blood.  But.  obviously,  whether  or  not  it  has  been  maintained 
over  many  centuries,  it  certainly  is  not  original  Spanish  Mood, 
as  we  have  seen  from  the  brief  history  of  the  original  and  subse- 
quent condition  of  the  country  within  historical  times.  In  a 
woid.  great  as  Dr.  Brinton  undeniably  is  as  ethnologist  and 
philologist,  and  much  else  in  different  branches  of  learning,  and 
highly  as  we  among  thousands  of  others  respect  his  talents  and 
acquirements,  he  has  in  this  instance  of  an  attempted  demon- 
stration, that  Visigothic  pure  blood  is  Spanish  pure  blood,  fallen 
into  wdiat  lawyers  call  a  no/i  sequitur. 

The  American  has  not  yet  a  distinctive  racial  t}rpe,  as  has 
the  Englishman,  the  Scotchman,  the  Irishman,  the  Frenchman, 
the  Russian,  the  German,  or  the  inhabitant  of  any  other  country 
but  this.  Time  is  to  produce  it  by  the  fusion  and  prolonged  life 
through  generations  of  representatives  of  many  races.  The  work- 
inn'  of  this  law  we  are  witnessing  on  the  grandest  scale  upon  which 
it  has  ever  manifested  itself.  Into  this,  our  country,  of  magnifi- 
cent extent,  extremely  fertile,  and  rich  in  almost  every  mineral 
treasure,  has  poured,  apart  from  riffraff,  some  of  the  best  blood 
of  Europe,  in  multitudes  of  industrious,  law-abiding  Germans, 
energetic  Irishmen,  Swedes,  Norwegians,  and  individuals  of 
many  other  nations.  Among  these,  as  among  people  of  all 
nations,  we  recognize  national  traits  of  character,  which,  differing 


THE   EVOLUTION   OF   THE    AMERICAN    GIRL.  107 

from  each  other,  cannot  all  be  virtues,  and  some  of  which  must 
therefore  be  deemed  faults.  These,  not  being  essential  to  the 
organization,  in  the  course  of  the  intermingling  of  races  disap- 
pear by  neutralizing  each  other,  while,  the  higher  qualities 
remaining,  a  higher  type  is  evolved.  It  is  from  the  concurrence 
of  a  fine  population  represented  by  various  races,  amidst  unusual 
affluence  of  nature,  with  unprecedented  general  prosperity,  and 
such  relations  between  the  sexes  as  more  than  elsewhere  lead  to 
the  gratification  of  romantic  love,  that  there  is  good  reason  to 
believe  in  a  future  of  the  races  here,  blended  into  the  unity  of  a 
higher  type  than  elsewhere  in  the  world,  which  shall  exhibit  a 
general  diffusion  of  health  and  beauty  such  as  never  until  then 
had  been  approached. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  SKIN  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  THE  BODY. 

THE  skin  is  to  be  regarded  from  two  points  of  view, — as  an 
organ  of  the  body,  and  as  its  finished  exterior.  The  Qrst 
of  these  relates  to  the  health  of  the  whole  body,  the  second  to 
its  final  touch  of  beauty  in  a  surface  soft,  pliant,  and  exquisitely 
delicate  in  color.  Health  and  beauty,  therefore,  the  two  topics 
of  this  work,  being  both  concerned,  and  beauty  being  (as  cannot 
be  too  earnestly  impressed  upon  the  reader)  entirely  dependent 
upon,  although  not  constituted  by  health,  the  natural  order  in 
which  to  consider  the  skin  will  be,  first,  as  it  is  subservient  to 
health,  and  then,  as  it  is  conducive  to  beauty.  Accordingly,  the 
present  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  an  examination  of  its  relation 
to  health,  and  the  one  immediately  following  to  that  of  its 
relation  to  beauty. 

The  skin  consists  of  the  subcutaneous  connective  tissue, 
the  corium,  and  the  epidermis.  In  the  subcutaneous  connective 
tissue  originate  the  most  deeply  seated  of  the  structures  which 
have  relation  to  the  skin,  —  arteries,  capillaries,  lymphatics, 
nerves,  sweat-glands,  and  the  bases  of  the  roots  of  the  hair  which 
penetrate  deepest.  The  blood-vessels  there  are  large,  and  after 
supplying  the  nutrition  of  the  hair,  the  sweat-glands,  and  the  fatty 
lobules  that  are  present  for  the  nourishment  of  the  parts,  branch 
into  the  corium.  The  subcutaneous  connective  tissue  some- 
times, as  on  the  seat,  which  is  quite  a  thick  cushion,  blends  with 
the  corium  by  means  of  little  fatty  columns,  which  there  reach 
the  base  of  the  roots  of  the  finer  hair.  Passing  through  the 
skin  are  involuntary  muscles  sometimes  accompanying  these, 
which  muscles,  under  the  influence  of  sudden  chill  of  the  surface 
of  the  body,  or  of  fear  or  other  great  cerebral  excitement,  erect 

the  hair. 

(169) 


170  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

The  curium  is  termed  the  true  skin.  It  corresponds  to 
what,  when  tanned,  we  call  in  the  lower  animals  leather.  It 
consists  of  two  layers,  the  only  difference  between  which  in 
character  is  that  the  upper  layer  is  the  more  compact.  It  is 
richly  nourished  with  blood-vessels  and  lymphatics,  and  as  the 
,  greater  Dumber  of  hair-roots  are  there,  so  also  arc  present  the 
greater  number  of  sebaceous  glands,  which  are  glands  secreting 
for  the  benefit  of  the  hair  and  skin  an  oil}'  liquor  called  sebum, 
similar  in  constitution  to  suet. 

The  epidermis,  or  scarf-skin,  consists  of  four  distinct  layers. 
These  are,  in  the  descending  order,  the  stratum  corneum  (the 
horny  layer),  the  stratum  lucidum  (the  transparent  layer),  the 
stratum  granulosum  (the  granular  layer),  and  the  stratum 
mucosum  (the  mucous  layer).  The  epidermis  means  simply  the 
top  skin,  the  outermost  portion  of  which  is,  as  stated,  the  horny 
layer.  When,  as  is  often  seen,  a  blister  detaches  the  upper  from 
the  lower  skin,  it  is  the  whole  of  the  four  layers  just  described 
which  have  been  separated  from  the  corium,  or  true  skin.  It  is 
therefore  apparent  that  the  layers  are  very  thin. 

Without  proceeding  farther  in  investigation  of  the  epider- 
mis, it  will  suffice  to  say  that,  through  its  four  layers,  cells 
graduate  from  the  corium,  gradually  changing  in  constitution 
and  shape  as  they  ascend,  until,  in  their  final  transformation, 
they  become  the  scales  of  the  horny  layer  of  the  scarf-skin.  We 
regret,  in  the  interest  of  the  reader's  memorizing,  that  there  are 
so  many  layers  to  the  epidermis,  but  the  fact  being  that  there 
are,  and  the}'  having  been  enumerated,  it  will  suffice  for  the 
purpose  here  in  view  to  consider  the  skin  as  simply  formed  of  the 
subcutaneous  connective  tissue,  the  corium,  and  the  epidermis. 

The  sweat-ducts,  proceeding  from  the  sweat-glands,  in  the 
subcutaneous  connective  tissue,  pass  through  the  corium  and 
epidermis,  and  debotich  on  the  outside  of  the  latter  with 
trumpet-mouthed  orifices.     Thus  are  discharged  from  the  body 


THE  SKIN  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  THE  BODY.  17  L 

its  perspiration,  with  many  humors,  carbonic-acid  gas, and  oilier 
noxious  matter,  as  well  as  the  oily  products  by  which  the  skin  is 
lubricated,  which  find  their  way  to  the  surface  through  the  seba- 
ceous ducts,  but,  to  some  degree,  through  the  sweat-gland  ducts. 
When  a  person  has  been  unwontedly  exposed  to  the  ardent  sun's 
rays,  nature  comes  with  a  profusion  of  oil  to  the  aid  of  the 
parching  skin.  Hence,  if  such  a  person  as  suddenly  ceases  to 
be  exposed,  the  skin  assumes  a  glistening  appearance,  especially 
on  the  cheeks  near  the  outside  flaps  of  the  nostrils, — the  wings 
of  the  nose,  as  they  are  anatomicalty  designated.  Such  has  been 
■within  our  experience  the  superabundance  of  oil  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, that  it  made  the  face  look  as  if  it  had  been  greased. 
If  no  further  exposure  to  the  sun  is  to  take  place  immediately, 
reduction  of  the  oiliness  of  the  skin  to  its  normal  amount  should 
be  effected  bjr  means  of  a  saturated  solution  of  borax,  applied 
with  a  fine  sponge. 

The  sebaceous  glands  are  either  free  or  attached  in  clusters 
to  the  roots  of  the  hair.  When  free,  their  ducts  deliver  sebum 
directly  at  the  surface  of  the  skin  ;  when  associated  with  hair, 
they  deliver  it  directly  at  the  roots.  According  to  Dr.  Erasmus 
Wilson,  these  ducts  also  act  as  sweat-ducts. 

Upon  the  corium  stand  an  immense  number  of  minute, 
elongated  teats,  of  exquisite  sensitiveness,  for  they  are  furnished 
with  nerves,  which,  passing  upward  through  the  papillae,  as  these 
teats  are  called,  reach  the  under  surface  of  the  horny  layer  of  the 
scarf-skin.  These  in  the  skin  constitute  the  seat  of  feeling,  pro- 
ducing what,  related  to  the  hand,  we  call  the  sense  of  touch. 
The  papillae  rising,  as  has  been  said,  to  the  under  side  of  the 
hornj'  layer  of  the  scarf-skin,  receive  its  protection  from  friction 
and  contact  with  the  atmosphere.  It  is  from  the  circumstance 
that  the  stratum  mucosum  of  the  epidermis  thus  becomes  riddled 
bjr  these  upright  papillae  that  it  derives  its  other  name  of  the 
rete    mucosum,   its    appearance    under   the    microscope    being 


172  HEREDITY,   HEALTH.    AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

reticulated,  or  having  the  appearance  of  net-work.  How  ex- 
quisitely sensitive  these  papilla-  are  i' very  one  realizes  who,  From 
a  burn  or  other  cause  of  abrasion,  loses  a  small  portion  of  the 
BCarf-skin,  and  exposes  them  to  contact  with  the  atmosphere. 

These  are  only  some  of  the  details  of  this  wonderfully  or- 
ganized membrane  called  the  skin.  A  description  of  it,  con- 
densed for  the  benefit  of  the  general  reader,  might  be  given  as 
follows;  It  consists  of  the  subcutaneous  connective  tissue,  the 
COl'ium,  and  the  epidermis.  It  is  supplied  with  sebaceous  glands 
and  their  ducts,  sweat-glands  and  their  ducts,  hairs  and  their 
erecting  muscles,  pigment  which  gives  it  color,  lobules  of  fafi» 
which  nourish  it,  and,  in  the  thickest  parts,  interlacing  fatty 
columns,  which  support  other  structures  and  contribute  largely 
to  its  elasticity.  The  scarf-skin,  being  partially  horny  in  char- 
acter, is  only  slightly  elastic,  but  the  corium  is  highly  so,  and 
the  subcutaneous  connective  tissue  so  organized  as  to  allow  the 
whole  thickness  of  the  skin  to  play  freely  on  the  parts  which  lie 
immediately  below, — the  muscles  and  the  fasciae. 

The  skin  is  therefore  of  exquisite  organization,  and,  as  com- 
plexity and  delicacy  of  structure  imply  complexity  and  delicacy 
of  function,  we  shall  not  be  surprised,  upon  pursuing  our  inquiry 
farther,  to  ascertain  that,  upon  the  condition  of  the  skin  and  the 
vicissitudes  to  which  it  is  subjected,  the  health  is  more  dependent 
than  upon  any  other  agencj'  in  life  over  which  we  have  some 
control.  Even  this  statement  conveys  but  a  faint  notion  of  the 
relations  of  the  skin  to  the  higher  order  of  beings,  for  it  is  only 
the  higher  order  of  beings  which  possess  true  skin. 

It  is  at  the  skin  that  man  ends  and  the  outlying  universe 
begins.  He  is  there  in  the  most  intimate  of  all  his  contacts  with 
the  universe.  The  judgments  formed  by  vision  itself  were  origi- 
nally educated  by  the  sense  of  touch.  Through  speciall}-  organ- 
ized portions  of  the  skin  the  senses  of  touch  and  smell  become 
agents  in  producing  distinctive  impressions  on  the  brain.  Through 


THE    SKIN    AS   AN    ORGAN    OF   THE   BODY.  1  '■' 

the  contact  of  its  extended  surface  with  the  conditions  existing 
around  us  we  come  into  most  intimate  rapport  with  air,  light, 
heat,  and  electricity.  It  is  continuously  conveying  to  the  brain 
the  information  of  well-  or  ill-  being.  Dr.  Maudsley  does  not 
state  the  case  too  strongly  when  he  says,  in  speaking  of  certain 
insane  hallucinations,  "  Were  a  sane  person  to  wake  up  some 
morning  with  the  cutaneous  sensibility  gone,  or  with  a  large 
area  of  it  sending  up  to  the  brain  perverted  and  quite  unac- 
countable impressions,  it  might  be  a  hard  matter,  perhaps,  for 
him  to  help  going  mad." 

So  intimate,  in  fact,  is  the  relation  of  different  parts  of  the 
bod}'  presided  over  and  governed  b}^  the  nervous  system,  that 
man}'  physiologists,  notabl}'  the  eminent  Dr.  Carpenter,  have 
insisted  that  concentration  of  thought  upon  a  portion  of 
the  body  determines  action  there.  What  kind  of  action,- — 
voluntary?  Certainly  not,  for  voluntary  action,  being  volun- 
tas,.  depends  upon  the  will's  directly  setting  up  the  action. 
The  action  set  up  in  the  brain  and  transmitted  thence  to 
the  point  upon  which  the  mind  is  concentrated,  affects  the 
circulation  and  the  involuntary  muscles  at  that  point.  There 
is  much  evidence  that  this  is  the  fact,  but  any  one  can  see  the 
probability  of  the  truth  of  the  theory  by  reflecting  that,  as  periph- 
eral disturbance,  even  if  it  proceed  no  farther  than  itching,  is 
transmitted  to  the  brain,  translated  there  as  to  its  nature  into 
psychical  terms,  similar  means  of  communication  are  also  open 
for  producing  effect  in  the  opposite  direction,  even  if  it  does  not 
reach  the  degree  sufficient  to  make  it  vise  into  consciousness. 
Where  there  are  afferent  (conveying)  nerves  to  bring  information 
into  consciousness,  there  are  also  efferent  (returning)  nerves  to 
transmit  a  message  in  the  reverse  direction. 

The  celebrated  Laura  Bridgman,  blind,  deaf,  and  dumb,  lay 
like  a  wreck  on  the  shores  of  time  until  communication  was 
established  with  her  through  the  sense  of  touch.     How  limited 


174  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

her  range  of  thought  must  have  been  when  shut  out  from  the 
world  through  the  non-existence  of  two  avenues  of  sense,  and 

before  she  had  slowly  learned  the  language  of  the  touch!  There 
is  an  aphorism  that,  "  nihil  in  intellectu  quod  not  erat  priusquam 
in  sensu" — that  is,  the  intellect  can  conceive  nothing  which  1ms 
not  reached  it  through  the  portals  of  sense.     This  is  not  strictly 

true,  ns  the  case  of  Laura  Bridgman,  if  there  were  no  other, 
would    show,    for   she   was    found,   when    communication    was 
established  with  her,  to  be  possessed  of  thought  and  of  high 
intelligence,  and,  of  course,  these  did  not  come  into  being  at  a 
bound.     What,  however,  is  true,  is  that  without  the  channels  of 
communication  with  the  outside  world,  called  the  senses,  certain 
orders  of  conception   are  impossible,  because  the}'  necessitate 
previous  perceptions.     Beethoven  composed  music  after  he  had 
become  deaf,  but  if  he  had   from  birth  been  deaf  he  would  not 
have  been  able  to  compose  after  losing  his  hearing,  because  he 
could  not  have  learned  the  relations  to  each  other  of  musical 
sounds.     Their   mathematical  relations   within    themselves    are 
fundamental  laws  of  their  being  which  can  convey  no  impression 
of  their  sensory  effects.     So  far  as  conceptions  derivable  from 
sensory  data  other  than  feeling  were  concerned,  Laura  Bridgman 
was  dead,  and  so  remained.     By  communication  with  her  own 
and  other  minds,  she  eventuall}'  lived  in  all  matters  in  which 
the  pure  intellect  is  concerned.     The  instrument  of  thought  Mas 
there  from  the  first,  in  the  brain  ;  thought  itself  within  certain 
limits  was  there,  much   potential,  not  actual,  much  for  all  time 
impossible.     Had  the  sense  of  touch,  as  well  as  the  other  senses, 
been  absent,  she  could  have  barely  been  said  to  exist.     That 
sense  not   having  been  denied  her,  she  awaked  to  knowledge 
with    the  thrill   of    life   under   the   patient    teaching   that   she 
received. 

To  this  added  illustration  of  the  range  of  capacity  in  the 
skin,  we  add  that  the  day  is  past  for  physicians  to  regard  it, 


THE   SKIN   AS   AN    ORGAN    OF    THE   BODY.  175 

even  in  disease,  as  though  it  were  an  independent  organ.  Noth- 
ing in  the  body  is  independent.  It  is  now  well  known  that  the 
skin,  as  well  as  all  other  parts  of  the  body,  depends  for  its  in- 
tegrity upon  the  general  nervous  sj-stem.  The  skin  is  pervaded, 
except  at  the  horny  layer,  by  an  infinite  number  of  nerves  in 
direct  communication  with  the  central  nervous  system  of  the 
bod}'.  Disturbance  anywhere  in  the  body  acts  upon  the  skin, 
and,  conversely,  any  disturbance  in  the  skin  acts  upon  the  central 
nervous  system.  A  simple  case  of  indigestion  often  manifests 
itself  over  considerable  areas  of  it.  A  person  badly  scalded  or 
burned  frequently  dies  on  account  of  the  whole  nervous  sj-stem 
sympathizing  through  the  inflammation  of  the  skin  ;  dies  thus2 
of  shock.  Lesser  agencies  produce  lesser  effects  ;  but  remember 
this,  that  the  skin  is  always  being  acted  upon  by  the  general 
health  of  the  system,  and  that  the  general  health  of  the  system 
is  always  being  acted  upon  by  the  skin.  If  a  prize-fighter  is  to 
be  fitted  for  his  task,  he  is  fitted  for  it  largely  through  processes 
which  involve  the  healthy  action  of  the  skin.  If  a  horse  is  to 
race,  similarly  he  is  put  in  the  best  condition  largely  through 
the  treatment  of  his  skin.  Equally  is  it  true,  whether  the  case 
be  man,  woman,  or  child,  that  bodily  health  and  vigor  are 
inseparable  from  a  health}7  condition  of  the  skin. 

To  enable  the  reader  to  realize  the  facts  mentioned,  it  will 
be  well  now  to  set  forth  some  of  the  work  which  the  skin  per- 
forms in  the  animal  economy,  by  specifying  what  the  organ  effects 
in  eliminating  from  the  S3-stem  injurious  products,  and  in  im- 
bibing the  life-giving  principle  of  oxygen. 

The  skin  has  been  shown  to  be  an  organ  of  sensation,  and  to 
some  degree  one  of  protection,  the  horny  layer  of  the  scarf-skin 
not  only  shielding  the  sensitive  papillae,  but  preventing  too  rapid 
escape  of  heat  and  moisture  from  the  tissues.  It  is  also  an  organ 
of  secretion,  excretion,  and  absorption.  It  forms  various  prod- 
ucts, and  expels  them  with  those  formed  in  deeper-lying  tissues. 


176  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

It  takes  up,  to  some  extent,  matter  in  solution.  Far  more  im- 
portant, however,  than  that  particular  kind  of  absorption  is  its 
capacity  oi'  respiration,  of  imbibing  oxygen,  and  Liberating  car- 
bonic acid.  It  is  true  that  its  liberation  of  carbonic  acid  amounts 
in  the  adult,  on  the  average, to  only  10  grammes  in  the  course  of 
twenty-four  hours,  but  the  amount  is  extremely  variable,  depend- 
ing upon  how  well  certain  internal  organs  of  the  body  are 
performing  their  task  of  eliminating  effete  matter,  and  upon 
temperature,  exercise,  and  other  conditions.  It  is,  however,  a 
function  of  the  skin  which  can  be  stimulated  to  increased  activity 
by  diaphoresis,  or  artificially  induced  profuse  sweating,  and  thus 
the  skin  may  be  called  upon  in  emergency  for  relieving  stress  in 
internal  organs  caused  by  disease. 

If,  however,  it  is  true  that  the  amount  of  oxygen  imbibed  by 
the  skin  and  the  amount  of  carbonic  acid  liberated  by  it  are  both 
small,  this  cannot  be  said  of  the  skin's  power  of  excretion  of 
matter  in  the  watery  solution  of  the  perspiration.  The  skin  is  con- 
tinuously engaged  in  expelling,  in  connection  with  sensible  and 
insensible  perspiration,  salts,  acids,  including  urea  (and  some- 
times offensively  as  to  that),  sugar,  proteids,  bile,  pigment,  and 
sometimes  broken-down  blood-corpuscles.  The  amount  of  solid 
matter  in  solution  thus  expelled  by  the  skin  actually  exceeds 
that  expelled  by  the  lungs,  in  the  proportion  of  eleven  to  seven 
parts.  The  lungs  are  more  effective  than jt  in  ridding  the  body 
of  the  noxious  gas  called  carbonic  acid,  for  they  liberate  daily 
in  the  adult  several  hundred  grammes  of  it,  in  return  for  about 
the  same  amount  of  oxygen,  while,  as  we  have  said,  the  skin 
liberates  in  the  same  time  only  about  10  grammes  of  carbonic- 
acid  gas.  But  it  is  to  be  observed  that,  when  it  comes  to  matter 
in  watery  and  oily  solution  and  suspension,  the  skin's  capacity 
for  eliminating  it  from  the  system  exceeds  that  of  the  lungs  in 
the  proportion  already  mentioned,  of  eleven  to  seven  parts. 

As   of  intimately   associated   interest,   it  is  well   here  to 


THE   SKIN    AS    AN    ORGAN   OF   THE   BODY.  177 

amplify  slightly  the  statement  as  to  the  work  which  the  lungs 
perform  in  absorbing  oxygen  and  liberating  carbonic-acid  gas. 
Carbonic-acid  gas  is  composed  of  two  equivalents  of  oxygen 
and  one  equivalent  of  carbon.  Ordinary  air  is  composed  of  a 
mere  trace  of  carbonic-acid  gas,  with  its  main  constituents, 
oxygen  and  nitrogen.  The  adult  hotty  absorbs  oxygen  in  respi- 
ration by  the  lungs  to  the  extent  of  a  little  over  b\  per  cent,  of 
the  sum-total  volume  of  air  inhaled,  and  returns,  in  the  form  of 
carbonic-acid  gas,  with  traces  of  other  gases,  a  little  less  than 
5^  per  cent,  of  the  sum-total  volume  of  air  exhaled.  The  poison- 
ous products  of  the  bod}r  in  the  form  of  carbonic-acid  gas  are 
therefore  liberated,  and  the  life-giving  oxygen  is  absorbed,  the 
oxjrgen  which  has  disappeared  having  gone  toward  nourishing 
the  blood  and  tissues  of  the  body. 

It  will  readily  be  perceived  from  what  has  been  said  that, 
simply  from  unhygienic  habits,  the  skin  ma}r,  even  in  health, 
become  the  vehicle  for  offensive  matter.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  century  some  printed  advice  to  school-girls  in  England 
appeared  from  a  well-known  female  authorit3r,  aimed  at  correct- 
ing in  them  the  pernicious  practice  of  neglecting  the  daily 
prompting  of  nature  to  defecation.  One  of  the  remarks  made 
was,  that  any  phj'sician  could  detect  in  such  girls  the  fact  of  the 
neglect,  simply  from  the  appearance  of  the  complexion.  The  lady 
could  have  said  more,  that  any  one,  plrysician  or  not,  can  detect 
the  neglect  by  the  color  and  odor  of  the  skin.  Happily  this 
neglect  has,  through  greater  diffusion  of  hygienic  knowledge,  been 
largely  abated.  It  is  almost  incredible,  and  yet  it  is  true,  that 
it  had  arisen  and  been  promoted  by  the  false  notion  that  such 
offices  of  nature  are  unworthy  of  the  attention  of  the  refined. 
What  a  commentary  on  the  general  intelligence  of  the  period 
among  the  sex  represented  by  the  better  classes !  What  delicate 
consequences  these,  thus  invited  to  place  themselves  in  clearest 

evidence ! 

12 


118  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

Dr.  .Franklin  somewhere  describes  the  wakefulness  thai 
occasionally  overtakes  one  in  lied,  in  the  night-time,  in  hot 
weather,  when  the  skin  erratically  itches  from  head  to  foot, 
restlessness  takes  possession  of  him,  and  he  reaches  the  des- 
perate conclusion  that  sleep  is  indefinitely  postponed.  The 
Doctor  prescribes  for  relief,  rising  and  taking  what  he  called  an 
air-bath,  seated  in  a  chair,  covered  only  with  a  loosely-flowing 
sheet.  The  remedy  is  good,  the  details  of  the  application  excel- 
lent, and  the  wished-for  relief  generally  obtained.  But  why 
should  this  condition  ever  exist  it'  cleanliness  is  present  (and 
the  Doctor  and  thousands  of  other  sufferers  could  not  be  accused 
of  want  of  that),  and  why  is  it  relieved  by  so  simple  a  process? 
The  consideration  comes  within  the  line  of  what  we  are  discuss- 
ing.  Lying  covered  in  lied,  if  only  with  a  sheet,  in  the  heat  of 
summer,  the  whole  skin  is  seeking  to  respire  vigorously, — to  im- 
bibe oxygen  and  give  up  carbonic  acid  and  other  ellete  matter. 
But  a  third  of  the  bod}'  is  in  contact  with  the  bed,  and  thus 
shutting  that  surface  out  from  ample  supply  of  the  ox3rgen  in  the 
air.  and  at  the  same  time  impeding  the  liberation  of  carbonic 
acid  there,  the  covering  of  the  sheet  producing  the  same  effect 
only  in  less  degree.  So  the  nerves  of  the  skin,  and  through 
them  the  general  nervous  system,  drive  away  sleep,  precarious 
in  summer's  heat.  The  scale  has  turned  against  it,  and  it  flies, 
until  either  the  cause  of  the  evil  is  removed,  or  weariness  tips 
tin-  scale  in  the  opposite  direction. 

The  sweat-glands,  it  will  be  remembered,  originate  in  the 
subcutaneous  connective  tissue,  the  lowest  of  the  three  layers 
of  the  skin,  and  their  ducts  debouch  in  trumpet-mouthed 
tubes,  called  ducts,  at  the  surface  of  the  scarf-skin.  These 
elands  are  effectively  composed  of  several  convolutions  of  the 
duct.  They  are  the  very  largest  in  the  armpit,  where  they  arc 
sometimes  T'ff  inch  in  diameter.  Krnuse  has  computed  the 
number    of  these    ducts  for  a  grown    person  of  ordinary  size 


THE  SKTN  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  THE  BODY.  179 

to  be  nearly  2,500,000.  Their  length,  if  joined  end  to  end, 
would  be  over  9  miles.  Their  communication  with  the  atmos- 
phere is  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  life.  During  the 
French  Revolution,  on  an  occasion  when  a  procession  was  in 
preparation,  a  little  boy  was  gilded  all  over  his  naked  body  us  a 
part  of  the  spectacle,  his  death  in  consequence  rapidly  ensuing. 

Glands  in  different  localities  have  specific  odors  intensified 
by  neglect  of  cleanliness.  A  person  may  take  a  thorough  bath, 
and  3Tet,  by  using  friction  with  the  hand,  the  odor  peculiar  to  the 
part  may  be  evolved  so  as  readily  to  be  perceived  by  smelling 
the  hand.  Not  only  is  this  true,  but  there  are  variations  in  the 
odor  of  the  same  part  in  the  same  person  at  different  times,  de- 
pending upon  different  conditions  of  the  S3*stem.  Bej-ond  this, 
there  are  specific  differences  in  general  odor  among  different  per- 
sons, so  marked  that,  when,  by  absence  and  lapse  of  time,  a  person 
has  been  forgotten,  his  specific  odor  sometimes  revives  memory 
of  him.  Some  persons  have  comparatively  little  odor  at  any 
time,  others  have  it  pronounced  at  certain  periods  and  not  at 
others,  and,  again,  some  persons  always  have  a  ver}-  perceptible 
odor.  For  all  these  variations  an  equal  degree  of  cleanliness  is 
assumed.  Yet,  such  is  idiosyncrasj^  of  constitution  that,  even 
under  this  sameness  of  conditions,  differences  in  qualit}'  and  de- 
gree of  odor  are  clearly  recognizable  among  different  persons. 

Generally,  far  beyond  any  individual  differences  of  odor,  as 
caused  by  specific  differences  in  constitution,  are  the  differences 
brought  about  by  the  great  range  in  cleanliness  among  different 
persons,  from  exquisite  neatness  to  utter  neglect.  The  fearful 
odors  that  assail  us  in  miscellaneously  crowded  street-cars  on 
rainy  days,  when  everything  reeks  with  moisture,  are  not  from 
carbonic  acid  alone,  but  also  from  unclean  clothes  and  skin. 
Imagine  the  effect  in  persons  of  any,  but  especially  of  certain 
bodily  constitution,  who  neglect,  let  us  say.  ablution  o*f  the  arm- 
pits, whose  glands  3-ield  a  much  thicker  fluid  than  that  which 


1SI>  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY, 

exudes  from  the  smaller  glands,  constituting  quite  n  viscid 
secretion. 

It  is  believed  by  naturalists  that  odor  among  the  lower*.ani- 
mals,  even  that  which  we  regard  us  fetid,  baa  relation  to  sexual 
attraction.  But  the  lower  animals  are,  after  all,  the  lower  ani- 
mals. In  tin-  lowest,  not  in  all  of  them,.as  we  have  .shown  at  the 
beginning  of  this  work,  they  have  been  recognized  ms  indifferent 
to  relative  good  looks,  cleanliness,  or  any  other  attribute  which 
betokens  refinement  of  taste.  But  odoriferousness  in  human 
beings  has  never  been  deemed  attractive.  Love  of  strong  arti- 
ficial perfumes  in  some  persona,  and  disgust  for  them  in  others, 
have  the  same  basis  from  different  points  of  view  in  refinement. 
No  one  of  whom  we  have  ever  heard,  except  the  eccentric  Walt 
Whitman,  ever  sang  the  praises  of  the  delicious  aroma,  of  the 
armpit.  That  this  is  a  normal  prompting  is  to  be  denied  in  the 
light  of  the  terrible  picture  by  Zola  of  the  feeble  debauchee 
shilling  at  the  slippers  of  his  not  overnice  inamorata.  Compare 
such  a  taste  as  that  with  love  of  the  perfume  of  a  pure  infant's 
skin,  or  that  which  the  French  call  the  bouquet  de  johe  femme, 
which  is  nothing  but  the  sweet  odor  of  pure  skin  and  fresh  linen. 
One  tells  of  exhaustion  of  life ;  the  other,  of  its  enduring,  keenest 
relish. 

When  we  reflect  upon  the  facts  here  presented, — that  the 
body  is  really  in  process  of  waste  and  repair  all  the  time;  that 
repair  cannot  proceed  well  unless  the  waste  is  constantly  re- 
moved; that  nature  has  provided  us  in  the  skin  with  an  organ 
largely  under  our  control,  which  discharges  a  portion  of  this 
waste  and  imbibes,  to  a  certain  degree,  oxygen,  one  of  the 
principles  of  animal  life, — it  becomes  evident  that  we  do  not 
properly  attend  to  our  welfare  if  we  neglect  using  this  means 
toward  health  at  our  disposal.  Cleanliness  is  one  of  the  con- 
comitants'of  self-respect.  It  is  next  to  godliness  because  it  is  a 
species  of  godliness,  and  may,  in  turn,  through  stimulating  self- 


THE  SKIN  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  THE  BODY.  181 

respect,  cause  godliness  to  rise  to  greater  heights.  Cleanliness, 
clothing,  warmth,  friction,  exercise,  food,  arc  chiefly  concerned 
in  the  healthiness  of  the  skin,  and  the  first,  the  most  important 
of  these,  is  the  most  neglected.  We  will  not,  however,  here 
trench  upon  the  subject  of  the  bath,  which  will  be  treated  of  in 
its  proper  place.  Here  we  pause  temporarily  as  to  the  subject 
of  the  skin,  with  the  end  attained  for  which  we  set  out, — to  prove 
how  important  is  its  condition  as  an  organ  to  the  healthiness  of 
the  body. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    SKIN   AS   A    BEAUTIFUL    TISSUE. 

A  DISTINGUISHED  French  author  tells  us  that  "  to  have 
just  enough  plumpness,  not  a  whit  too  much  nor  too  little, 
is  with  women  the  study  of  their  lives."  Being-  a  Parisian  of 
good  society,  literary,  a  bon-vivant,  who  had  had  fear  for  himself 
of  the  encroachment  of  obesity,  a  fatherly  adviser  of  ladies  of 
his  acquaintance  as  to  the  course  to  pursue  to  check  tendencj'  to 
it,  and,  lastly,  a  connection  of  Madame  Recamier's,  the  most 
beautiful  woman  of  her  time,  he  may  justly  be  deemed  to  possess 
a  combination  of  advantages  entitling  him  to  judge  of  beauty, 
and  of  all  that  can  increase  or  mar  its  attractiveness.  This 
author,  Brillat  Savarin,  with  whom  the  reader  had  better  make 
acquaintance  if  he  does  not  already  know  him,  discourses  elo- 
quently on  the  devastating  inroads  which  obesit}^  makes  in  female 
beaut}\  Better  by  far  is  it,  in  our  opinion,  too,  for  a  woman 
possessed  of  any  physical  attractions,  to  be  as  thin  as  a  rail  rather 
than  for  her  to  descend  to  the  commonplaceness  of  fat,  destruc- 
tive of  every  line  and  eveiy  hue  of  beaut}*.  Yet  thousands  of 
women  would  seem,  through  their  addiction  to  the  eating  of 
sweets  and  other  food  conducive  to  obesitj^,  and  their  avoidance 
of  exercise,  deliberately  to  invite  and  welcome  its  inroads. 
Savarin  saj-s  of  its  effects  in  the  fair  sex  : — 

There  is  a  sort  of  obesity  which  is  confined  to  the  stomach  ;  I  have  never 
observed  this  among  women.  As  they  are  generally  of  delicate  fibre,  when 
obesity  attacks  them  it  spares  nothing.  ...  I  belong  to  the  other  class.  I 
have  none  the  less  regarded  my  stomach  as  a  redoubtable  enemy.  I  have  con- 
quered it,  and  fixed  it  at  the  majestic  type. 

We  can  claim  the  advantage  over  Savarin  of  having  seen  in 
women  the  t3pe  of  obesit}^  which  he  says  he  never  met  with,  but 
it  is,  undoubtedly,  very  rare.    He  is  right  in  his  observation  that 

(183) 


Is  (  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

when  obesity  attacks  womeu,  it.  does,  owing  to  their  less  com- 
pactness of  fibre  as  compared  with  that  of  men,  tend  to  involve 
the  whole  person. 

( >besity  and  complexion  arc  inl  iniatcly  related  to  each  other. 
A  tat  person  of  cither  sex  has  losf  the  contours  which  produce 
delicate  cilecis  of  light  and  shade,  and  art-  indispensable  not  only 
to  delicacy  of  form,  hut  to  subtle  play  of  color.  All  is  tense, 
rigid,  suffused  with  the  same  tint  on  a  rounded  surface,  without 
the  slightest  fineness  of  modeling.  The  expression  of  a  fat  lace 
is  ns  distinctive  as  is  the  expression  of  a  dwarf  or  a  giant.  The 
surface,  being  rounded,  and  uniformly  suffused  with  color,  not 
broken  up  into  tints  with  delicate  transitions,  has  ceased  to  be 
attractive  from  the  point  of  view  of  beauty.  The  best  that  one 
can  say  of  a  complexion  of  the  sort  is  what  is  often  said  of  it, — 
that  it  is  a  nice,  clean,  fresh-looking  skin.  It  produces  that  im- 
pression through  its  excessively  tense  smoothness  of  appearance, 
but  that  impression  is  not  one  of  beauty.  If  cleanliness  is  de- 
sirable, the  appearance  of  it  is  desirable;  but  the  freshness  that 

suggests  cleanliness  is  not  beauty,  for  cleanliness  itself  does  not 

* 
constitute  beauty.     At  best,  the  fat  face  affords  the  humblest 

gratification  to  the  sight  from  perception  of  ruddy  smoothness, 
destitute  of  distinction  ;  and  it  is  frequenthr  coupled  with  vul- 
garity of  expression.  Fat  equally  debases  the  figure,  destnrying 
all  its  lines  of  beauty,  suggesting  incapacity  of  motion  without 
effort,  besides  diminishing  the  feeble  power  of  locomotion  pos- 
sessed by  human  beings,  and  rendering  the  simplest  movements 
painfully  devoid  of  ease  and  grace. 

Putting  undue  plumpness,  amounting  to  fatness  of  face,  out 
of  consideration,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  mere  clearness  and 
redness  of  skin  do  not  constitute  a  complexion  of  the  highest 
order.  If  that  were  the  case,  the  typical  English  milkmaid's 
ruddy  hue  of  health  would  be  the  most  beautiful  complexion  in 
the  world.     But  pink  and  white,  merely  as  such,  especially  if 


THE    SKIN    AS   A   BEAUTIFUL   TISSUE.  I  35 

they  have  very  distinctly  marked  boundaries,  are  always  desti- 
tute of  the  distinction  which  marks  the  ideal  complexion. 
Neither,  although  it  has  lately  been  the  fashion,  is  the  colorless, 
creamy-tinted  complexion  the  highest  type.  It  is,  however,  as 
to  its  effect,  the  very  opposite  of  that  of  the  milkmaid  pink  and 
white,  giving  rare  distinction.  It  lacks  transparency ,  however ; 
so  that,  while  it  escapes  wholly  the  vulgarity  of  the  other,  it 
does  not  possess  its  inestimable  advantage  in  clearness. 

The  inference  to  be  drawn  from  observation  of  all  types  is 
that  what  constitutes  the  ideal  complexion,  whether  blonde  or 
brunette,  is  the  fineness  of  the  outer  skin,  the  disposition  of  its 
blood-suppby,  and  its  translucency.  Of  all  Madame  Recamier's 
traits  of  physical  beauty,  none  seem  to  have  struck  her  contem- 
poraries so  much  as  the  wonderful  effect  of  her  complexion.  It 
stood  the  severe  test  of  the  closest  inspection  as  she  appeared  in 
open  caleche,  or  face  to  face  with  the  throngs  that  surged  through 
the  public  halls  and  promenades  of  Paris  in  the  rebound  from 
the  terrible  days  of  the  Reign  of  Terror.  It  stood  even  the  test 
of  jealousy  and  envy,  and  remained  unscathed.  Because  we 
could  not  elsewhere  find  so  authentic  an  example  for  our  purpose, 
we  shall  continue  to  cite  the  case  of  Madame  Recamier  as  a  well- 
known  and  accepted  queen  of  beauty,  by  way  of  exemplifying 
wdiat  we  have  to  say  of  complexion  of  the  highest  type.  To  this 
effect  we  quote  here  the  testimony  of  another  beauty  of  that  period 
as  to  the  effect  that  Madame  Recamier's  appearance  alwa}"s  pro- 
duced. The  speaker  is  Madame  Regnault  de  Saint-Jean-dAn- 
geby,  at  a  time  when  she,  no  longer  young,  had  retired  from 
the  gay  wrorld.  She  says  :  "  I  was  at  an  entertainment  where  my 
appearance  attracted  and  captivated  all  present,  when  Madame 
Recamier  arrived.  The  brilliancy  of  her  eyes,  which,  neverthe- 
less, were  not  very  large,  the  inconceivable  whiteness  of  her 
shoulders,  eclipsed,  crushed  everything  ;  she  dazzled.  At  the 
end  of  a  moment,  it  is  true,  good  judges   returned  to   their 


186       HEREDITY,  HEALTH,  AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

allegiance  to  me."  Probably  the  world  never  heard  that  they  did 
except  through  this  phrase.  The  testimony  as  it  stands  from  a 
celebrated  beauty  is  convincing ;  wecan  make  our  own  allowances 
for  the  weakness  of  vanity.  • 

Translucency  of  skin,  indispensable  as  it  is  to  a  perfect 
complexion,  may,  however,  reach  a  point  where  it  becomes  a 
defect,  as  -we  sometimes  see  in  the  wasting  of  consumption, 
where  t he  veins  show  in  the  temples  and  elsewhere  as  if  painted 
in  blue  water-color  on  the  outside  of  the  skin.  But,  in  an  other- 
wise fine  skin,  translucency  to  a  proper  degree  is  indispensable 
to  the  most  perfect  manifestation  of  its  beaut}'.  In  sickness  the 
skin  is  not  as  it  is  in  health.  It  becomes  either  dull,  opaque, 
and  lustreless,  or  else,  in  certain  diseases,  shrunken  to  a  vitreous- 
looking,  transparent  membrane.  With  health,  its  due  translu- 
cency and  brilliancy  return.  To  what  degree  it  is  capable  of 
transmitting  light,  one  can  ascertain  by  placing  any  child  side- 
wise,  so  that  the  light  from  a  near  window  shall  show  back  of 
the  ear.  We  well  remember  a  picture  in  the  Dusseklorf  gallery, 
in  New  York,  where  this  feature  of  beauty  Avas  exhibited  in  a 
figure  of  Desdemona  seated  with  her  back  to  a  casement,  listen- 
ing to  the  Moor,  the  ear  through  which  the  light  appeared  being 
illuminated  like  a  pink-tinted  shell.  So,  in  a  delicate  ear,  we  can 
see  light  through  a  thickness  of  cartilage  and  two  thicknesses 
of  skin. 

We  yield  to  the  temptation  to  speak  here  further  of  Madame 
Recamier,  in  view  of  the  base  uses  to  which  her  name  has  been 
put  in  connection  with  cosmetics,  leaving  the  popular  impression 
in  this  country  that  she  was  little  but  an  animated,  pretty  doll. 
To  the  best  of  our  knowledge,  Brillat  Savarin  never  mentioned 
her  at  all  in  his  writings.  The  only  occasion  in  which  he  seems 
publicly  to  have  appeared  with  her  was  that  on  which  General 
Moreau,  with  various  other  persons,  was  on  trial  for  conspiracy, 
Napoleon  being  First   Consul,  when  she  caused  a  sensation  by 


THE   SKIN   AS   A   BEAUTIFUL   TISSUE.  181 

appearing  in  court  because  General  Moreau  had  missed  ber  us 
one  of  his  sympathizing  friends.  The  time  was  not  devoid  of 
terror,  although  the  Reign  of  Terror  had  ceased.  Borne,  even 
of  the  partisans  of  the  First  Consul,  reprobated  the  murder  of 
the  Due  d'Enghien. 

Madame  Recamier,  escorted  by  Brillat  Savarin,  made  her 
appearance  in  court,  in  total  disregard  of  what  she  knew  would 
be  the  displeasure  of  Napoleon  at  her  appearance  there.  From 
first  to  last  of  his  career,  all  efforts  to  induce  her  to  identify  her- 
self with  the  new  regime  were  fruitless.  The  key-note  of  her 
whole  life  was  devotion  to  her  friends.  Chateaubriand,  and  others 
almost  equally  eminent,  received  the  benefit  of  her  profound 
knowledge  of  the  world,  and  indulged  in  the  charm  of  her  inti- 
mate friendship.  Her  salon  in  Paris  was  the  ground  where 
clashing  interests  could  meet  without  warring,  where  she  presided 
calmly  indifferent  to  Napoleon,  until  her  devotion  to  Madame  de 
Stael  led  to  her  own  exile.  Madame  de  Stael  stands  to  the  world 
as  the  strong  mind  on  which  Madame  Recamier  relied,  when  the 
truth  is,  that  in  all  crises  Madame  Recamier  bore  herself  with 
infinite  courage  and  discretion,  and  Madame  de  Stael  it  was  who 
in  her  own  time  of  greatest  need  leaned  on  her. 

With  all  her  gifts  of  mind  and  character,  Madame  Recamier 
possessed,  in  addition,  great  personal  beauty — so  great  that  the 
renown  of  it  has  led  in  the  public  mind  to  the  overshadowing 
by  it  of  her  other  claims  to  admiration,  in  superior  judgment, 
great  amiability,  and  an  almost  unrivaled  unselfishness.  An 
observer  of  her  time  painted  her  portrait  as  follows: — 

Her  figure  was  supple  and  elegant,  with  fine  neck  and  shoulders  and  a 
gracefully-poised  head.  She  had  spare,  but  charmingly-modeled  arms ;  wavy, 
chestnut  hair;  a  small,  well-shaped  mouth,  fine  teeth,  and  a  delicately-formed 
nose  of  the  French  type.  Lastly,  she  had  a  brilliancy  of  complexion  which 
threw  everything  else  into  the  shade.  The  general  expression  of  her  face  was  one 
of  candor,  with  just  a  tinge  of  mischievousness,  the  whole  effect  being  irresistibly 
attractive. 

This  was  the  woman  who,  without  being  distinctively  intel- 


1^  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

lectual,  like  her  friend,  Madame  de  Stael,  was  of  the  finest  mold, 
wise,  courageous,  patient,  sympathetic,  pitiful,  and  faithful  be- 
yond compare;  who,  even  upon  the  verge  of  old  age,  when  she 
died,  retained  lier  influence  over  all  ages  and  conditions  of  men 
and  women,  after  her  youth,  beauty,  and  fortune  had  passed 
away. 

It  will  have  been  noticed  that,  in  the  description  just  given 
of  Madame  Recamier,  it  is  said  that  the  brilliancy  of  her  com- 
plexion threw  everything  else  into  the  shade.  The  supreme 
beauty  of  such  a  complexion,  it  should  be  understood  from  all 
that  has  now  been  said,  is  not  derived  from  mere  pink  and  white, 
or  red  and  white  effects.  It  is  born  of  nothing  less  than  blood 
mantling,  with  a  certain  subtlety  of  distribution,  in  a  skin  of 
superlative  fineness  and  translucency.  All  may  be  accorded  to 
a  skin  in  fineness  of  texture  and  in  color,  but  without  a  certain 
adjustment  of  vascular  supply  and  great  translucency  it  cannot 
produce  the  highest  elfect  as  complexion.  It  is  almost  needless 
to  repeat  that  general  healthiness  of  body  and  skin  is  indis- 
pensable to  the  beauty  of  the  skin,  which  in  the  face  we  speak 
of  as  the  complexion.  It  remains,  then,  only  to  consider  the 
remaining  source  of  the  vivid  effects  with  which  we  are  ac- 
quainted, as  exhibited  in  the  complexion.  This  subject  is  the 
more  inviting,  because  the  source  of  subtle  effects  of  the  com- 
plexion seems  to  have  escaped  the  attention  of  all  writers  on 
the  skin  with  whom  we  are  acquainted.  We  venture  to  sa}r  that 
the  unpremeditated  popular  answer  to  the  question  as  to  wdiat 
produces  them  would  be  that  they  are  derived  from  the  charac- 
ter of  the  skin,  as  shown  by  reflected  light.  And  that  reply 
would  contain  a  certain  measure  of  truth,  although  the  concep- 
tion back  of  it  would  be  wide  of  the  mark  as  to  the  cause.  The 
peculiarities  which  we  see  in  the  complexion  are  not  made  by 
reflected  light.  They  already  exist,  to  render  it  possible  for 
them  to  be  conveyed  to  us  by  reflected  light.    Reflection  of  light 


THE   SKIN   AS   A    BEAUTIFUL   TISSUE.  139 

from  them  is  merely  the  condition  under  which  their  previous 
existence  is  brought  to  our  knowledge.  We  should,  in  fact, 
understand  that  just  as  incident,  light  contributes  to  constituting 
those  peculiarities,  reflected  light  is  merely  the  agency  by  which 
we  perceive  them.  In  a  word,  flesh  and  blood  and  incident  light 
are  the  two  agencies  that  are  concerned  in  their  production. 
There  is,  then,  a  something  else  besides  flesh  and  blood  which  is 
contributory  to  those  effects,  since  they  cannot  be  created  by 
their  reflection  to  us,  which  only  enables  us  to  see  what  already 
exists.  That  something  else  is  the  refraction  and  reflection  of 
incident  light  pervading  the  tissues  of  the  skin. 

The  blood  is  red  ;  the  veins,  as  seen  through  the  skin,  look 
blue.  Their  blueness  cannot  be  derived  from  the  color  of  their 
coating,  for  that  is  a  dingy  white,  with  a  trace  of  red.  It  has 
never  occurred  to  thousands  of  persons  to  investigate  the  cause 
of  this  apparent  anomaly,  or,  indeed,  to  thousands,  that  there  is 
in  this  fact  any  anomaly.  Yet  the  blood  in  leaving  the  left  side 
of  the  heart,  after  it  has  been  oxygenated  b}'  the  lungs,  is  crim- 
son, and  after  making  the  tour  of  the  body  is,  when  about  to 
enter  the  right  side  of  the  heart,  the  color  of  claret.  Nowhere 
does  it  appear  through  the  skin  as  even  tinged  with  crimson  or 
claret  color,  but  everywhere  as  blue.  Always  remaining  of  some 
reddish  hue,  it  is,  therefore,  only  apparently  blue.  It  is  clearly, 
then,  a  phenomenon  of  light  with  which  we  are  called  upon  to 
deal  in  investigating  the  peculiar  effects  observable  in  the  com- 
plexion. The  general  reader  is  not  alone  in  haATing  remained 
unobservant  of  this  main  fact,  and  even  of  the  matter  of  detail 
just  mentioned,  for  many  physicians  are  equally  in  the  dark  on 
the  subject,  as  we  have  ascertained  by  careful  inquiry. 

The  reader  is  now,  after  having  read  the  preceding  chapter 
on  the  constitution  of  the  skin,  in  a  position  to  understand,  with 
the  addition  of  a  few  more  facts,  the  cause  of  the  phenomenon 
of  great  beauty  in  the  complexion. 


190  HEREDITY,   HEALTH.    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

Light,  as  we  see  it  proceeding  from  the  sun  or  electricity, 
which  latter  is  the  purer  form  of  it.  consists  of  an  infinite 
number  of  colored  rays  blended  in  one  kind  of  ray,  which  is 
called  white.  Eence,  we  call  the  light  of  the  sun  white  light. 
The  phenomena  which  we  are  about  to  examine  can,  it  is  true, 
be  partially  observed  even  by  a  single  imperfectly  homogeneous 
light.  We  witnessed  one  of  them  by  accident  only  the  other 
evening,  as  shown  in  the  pearly  inside  coat  of  an  oyster-shell 
illuminated  by  gas-light  reflected  from  a  bright-red  shade.  Never- 
theless, the  assumption  of  white  light  is  the  most  proper  one  in 
the  discussion  of  the  present  question. 

Light  tends  to  proceed  in  a  straight  path,  but,  as  is  well 
known,  it  is  susceptible  of  being  diverted  from  that  course, 
when  it  is  incidentally  found  to  be  broken  up  into  rays  of  differ- 
ent color,  called  primary,  secondary,  tertiary,  and  so  on,  to  a 
point  where  they  evidently  continue  beyond  the  range  of  our 
vision,  whether  aided  or  unaided  by  the  most  delicate  instru- 
ments. All  light  proceeds  with  the  same  velocity  in  the  same 
medium.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  each  differently-colored  ray 
has  its  own  specific  wave-length,  the  mean  Wave-length  of  dif- 
ferently-colored rays  visible  being  one  fifty-thousandth  of  an  inch. 

There  are  various  ways  in  which  matter  interferes  with  the 
tendency  of  light  to  pursue  a  straight  course, — through  reflec- 
tion, refraction,  diffraction,  and  polarization.  It  is,  however, 
onlj'  with  refraction,  diffraction,  and  reflection  that  we  have  to 
do  here.  "When  light  is  refracted,  it  is  by  passing  from  one 
medium  to  another.  This  alters  its  course  so  as  to  produce  in 
rays  relative  retardation  and  acceleration,  the  velocity  of  all 
depending  upon  whether  it  passes  into  a  more  or  less  dense 
medium  than  the  one  which  it  has  left.  Refracted  light  is 
changed  not  only  as  to  its  course,  but  as  to  the  time  of  its 
passage.  "When  light  is  diffracted  it  also  is  diverted  from  its 
course,  and  its  rays  relatively  retarded  or  accelerated,  but  it  is 


THE    SK.TN    AS    A    BEAUTIFUL   TISSUE.  191 

not,  as  a  whole,  modified  in  velocity  in  passing,  the  phenomenon 
of  diffraction  taking  place  in  the  atmosphere,  and  not  by  Light 
passing  from  one  medium  to  another  of  grosser  matter.  Diffrac- 
tion takes  place  through  light,  in  its  straight  course,  striking  the 
sharp  edge  of  an  object  in  its  path,  which  action  causes  it  to  lie 
broken  up  into  colored  rays.  The  visual  consequences  of  this 
behavior  of  light  are  of  infinite  complexity.  Two  rays  of  equal 
intensity,  coinciding  by  a  difference  of  onl}'  half  a  wave-length, 
extinguish  each  other  and  produce  darkness.  Rays,  by  super- 
position, re-in force  each  other  in  the  production  and  modification 
of  color.  The  whole  of  the  phenomena  involved  result  from  the 
interferences  of  rays  of  light  of  different  wave-lengths.  Origi- 
nally of  the  same  wave-length  in  white  light,  light  becomes, 
when  broken  up  into  colored  raj^s,- of  an  infinite  number  of  wave- 
lengths, and  produces  infinite  complexity  of  color-effects. 

It  is  with  the  interference  of  rays  of  different  wave-lengths, 
not  to  the  point  of  obliterating  each  other,  but  to  that  of  infi- 
nitely modifying  the  color  with  which  they  are  inseparably  asso- 
ciated, that  we  are  concerned. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  skin  consists  of  six  layers  of  differ- 
ent character.  Throughout  them  the  cells  themselves  are  different 
in  form  in  the  different  layers.  Moreover,  the  coats  of  the  veins 
have  three  layers,  as  have,  with  some  modifications,  the  venules  ; 
and  these  la3rers  are  of  different  cellular  formation  and  ultimate 
general  structure.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  skin  is  translucent 
to  a  degree  enabling  us  to  see  light  through  two  thicknesses  of  it, 
in  addition  to  a  thin  cartilage.  It  follows  that,  when  light,  espe- 
cially white  light,  falls  on  any  part  of  the  skin,  it  cannot  proceed 
without  being  subjected  to  myriads  of  refractions  through  the 
various  media  in  the  skin.  What  takes  place  when  it  impinges 
upon  the  face,  which  represents  the  skin  in  its  highest  delicacy, 
is  analogous  to  what  occurs  when  white  light  penetrates  thin 
sheets  of  isinglass  in  contact  with  each  other,  or  the  thin  layers 


19:2  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

of  an  opal.  It  is  easy  enough  1<>  say  that  the  eil'ects  are  caused 
by  refraction,  but  really  to  understand  the  cause  of  them  is  to 
know,  besides  recognizing  that  the  fundamental  cause  is  refrac- 
tion, that  the  consequences  in  color  arc  due  to  the  refracted  in- 
terferences of  tin'  ra\s  of  Light.  Analogous  effects  t<>  those 
produced  by  Light  in  isinglass,  the  opal,  and  other  substances, 
and  in  instruments  specially  devised  for  exhibiting  them,  are 
produced  by  the  same  cause  in  the  depths  of  the  translucent  skin 
by  its  different  layers:  in  sum,  by  refraction  and  interferences 
of  ravs,  the  resultant  effect,  through  reflection  to  the  observing 
eye,  being  that  which  we  know  as  individual  complexion,  de- 
termined, as  to  final  effect,  by  individual  constitution  of  the  skin 
of  the  face.  Further  consideration  will  render  the  points  in- 
volved still  clearer. 

Not  only  are  thin  plates  penetrated  by  white  light  capable 
of  breaking  the  light  up  into  innumerable  colored  rays,  but  stri- 
ated and  corrugated  surfaces  have  the  same  capacity  under  cer- 
tain conditions.  A  fine  skin  has,  to  the  naked  eye,  an  appear- 
ance of  perfect  smoothness,  but  by  optical  tests  to  which  it  can 
be  subjected  it  is  seen  to  be  far  from  smooth.  It  is  not  so  smooth 
as  represented  in  diagrams  of  magnified  portions  of  it  showing 
the  cells  of  the  scarf-skin.  The  eye,  viewing  the  representation 
from  above,  receives  no  correct  impression  as  to  the  vertical 
eccentricities  of  the  surface,  and,  of  course,  it  receives  no  impres- 
sion at  all  as  to  the  color  of  the  skin  or  the  reflection  of  light 
from  it  as  exhibited  by  the  skin  itself.  Neither  does  the  descrip- 
tion "horny  layer  of  the  skin"  convey  an}'  just  idea  of  the 
appearance  of  its  surface  when  highly  magnified,  because  the 
horny  quality  is  so  exquisitely  fine  as  to  violate  preconceptions 
as  to  applicability  of  the  term. 

It  will  be  best,  therefore,  to  describe  here  the  appearance  of 
a  fine  skin  as  it  looks  under  the  microscope,  magnified,  say,  fifty 
times.     It  will  then  become  evident  to  the  reader  that  some  of 


THE    SKIN    AS    A    BEAUTIFUL   TISSUE.  103 

its  color  may  be  due  to  striation  and  corrugation  of  the  surface, 
as  well  as  to  tlie  presence  in  the  skin  of  the  numerous  thin  plates, 
differing  in  constitution,  of  which  we  have  already  spoken. 
Incidentally,  it  will  also  become  evident  why  the  skin  is  so 
luminous,  and  therefore  how  a  complexion  can  be  so  brilliant  as 
to  justify  the  use  of  the  term  "  dazzling." 

Under  the  magnifying  power  of  fifty  diameters  there  is  no 
penetration  of  sight  below  the  surface.  We  see  merefy  the  im- 
mediate surface  of  the  horny  layer  of  the  scarf-skin.  Imagine 
a  piece  of  ice  about  an  inch  in  thickness,  not  appearing  as 
transparent  nor  even  as  translucent,  because  having  a  backing 
to  it,  but  as  seen  entirely  by  reflected  light;  and  this  piece  of 
ice  to  be  broken  up  into  facets  without  dislodgment  of  them, 
leaving  them  with  slightfy  defined  outlines,  and  placed  at  slightly 
different  angles  with  reference  to  the  general  surface.  This  is 
the  general  appearance  of  the  skin  as  seen  magnified  fift}*  times, 
but  only  the  general  appearance  of  it  under  those  circumstances. 
To  convey  a  true  conception  of  it,  we  must  now  speak  of  the  spe- 
cial effects  of  light  as  seen  reflected  from  the  skin  as  thus  magni- 
fied. In  many  places,  particularly  on  the  crests  and  ridges  formed 
by  the  slightly  angular  position  of  the  facets  with  reference  to 
each  other,  which  facets  are,  of  course,  in  the  case  of  the  skin,  the 
scales  of  the  scarf-skin,  the  effect  of  the  reflected  light  is  more 
intense  than  can  be  realized  by  likening  it'to  the  glinting  of 
broken  and  pulverized  ice.  The  light  on  the  crests  and  ridges 
between  the  facets  is  comparable  in  lustre  only  to  polished  silver 
highly  illuminated.  These  facets,  being  the  horny  layer  of  the 
scarf-skin,  are  the  surface  which  receives  light  into  the  skin,  so 
that  the  light  must,  even  at  its  entrance,  be  subjected  to  refrac- 
tion. Additionally,  the  striation  of  the  horny  laj'er  at  the  junc- 
tions of  the  scales,  and  the  corrugations  produced  by  their 
angular  position  with  reference  to  each  other,  must  be  in  them- 
selves productive  of  color. 


104  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

The  outermost  layer  of  the  skin  being  formed,  as  described, 
of  silvery-white  facets,  is  of  the  besl  possible  constitution  to  re- 
flect  light.  We  see  best  by  reflected  light  when  the  light  is  scat- 
tered. A  plate-glass  mirror  can  be  so  placed  as  not  to  be  \  isible, 
as  it  sometimes  is  in  the  tricks  of  magicians  on  the  stage.  If 
the  glassof  which  the  mirror  is  made  were  crushed  to  fragments, 
it  would  instantly  become  visible,  because  the  light  falling  upon 
the  glass  would  be  scattered.  Just  so,  polished  facets,  such  as 
have  been  described,  scatter  light  in  all  directions.  The  com- 
plexion, therefore,  is  summed  up  in  the  natural  fineness,  color, 
and  translucency  of  the  skin  of  the  lace,  as  modified  by  the  laws 
of  light  and  their  combined  effects  reflected  to  the  eye  by  the 
bright  outside  surface  of  the  skin.  Hence,  we  perceive  how 
appropriate  are  our  terms  for  a  complexion  such  as  Madame 
Re'camier's, — brilliant,  radiant,  dazzling,  the  whole  effect  start- 
ling,— and  how  impossible  it  is  by  artifice  to  improve  upon 
nature,  to  do  more  than  mask  with  an  imperfection  another 
imperfection,  which  may  sometimes  not  be  the  greater. 

When  an  artificer  in  cosmetics  shall  he  able  to  change  an 
ordinary  skin  to  one  fine  in  texture,  color,  translucency,  and 
hrightness,  then,  and  not  till  then,  can  he  make  a  fine  complexion. 
If  complexion  were  derived  from  a  dense,  mat  surface,  art  would 
lie  adequate  to  tint  it  so  as  to  look  like  nature.  But,  as  com- 
plexion is  the  result  of  the  comhination  of  natural  qualities, — 
fineness,  color,  translucency, — modified  by  the  afllueuce  and 
effluence  of  light  acting  under  divine  law.  it  is  impossible  suc- 
cessfully to  imitate  its  effects.  Carried  to  the  extreme,  the  result 
of  the  attempt  is  ghastly.  Alphonse  Daudet,  in  his  "  Froment 
Jeune  et  Risler  Aine,"  vividly  depicts,  on  their  way  to  the  races 
at  Longchamps,  those  artificial  blondes  whom  the  Third  French 
Empire  produced.  "Carriages,"  he  says,  "as  they  passed, 
grazed,  driven  by  women  with  painted  faces  squeezed  into  narrow 
veils,  motionless,  holding  their  whips  upright  with  the  pose  of 


THE   SKIN    AS   A   BEAUTIFUL   TISSUE.  195 

dolls,  nothing  alive  about  them  but  their  charcoaled  eyes  fixed 
on  the  horses'  heads."  This  is  the  cosmetic  art  become  Satanic, 
and  yet  it  has  appeared  to  some  extent  even  in  this  virgin  laud. 
What  can  be  seductive  about  it,  except  to  the  lowest  of  men,  and 
to  them  only  in  default  of  better  exemplars  of  the  fair  sex,  it 
were  hard  to  sa}^.  Nothing  living  so  much  resembles  the  whited 
sepulchre,  where  dead  men's  bones  lie  within.  The  fashion  is  not 
of  the  earth  earthy,  but  of  the  devil  devilish.  It  does  not  sug- 
gest life,  but  death, — vice  in  its  last  agony  of  body  and  mind. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  BATH  AS  PROMOTIVE  OP  HEALTH  AND  BEAUTY. 

WE  may  rest  assured,  judging  by  the  present  general  tend- 
encies of  mankind,  that,  although  bathing  must  be  of 
the  highest  antiquity,  it  was  resorted  to  of  old,  as  well  as  now, 
b}'  the  multitude  only  for  the  sake  of  its  directly  pleasurable 
effects,  instead  of  from  motives  of  cleanliness  and  promotion  of 
good  physical  condition  and  beauty.  As  in  duty  bound,  in  this 
era  of  demand  for  reasons  for  all  assertions,  we  proceed  to  give 
those  for  the  faith  within  us,  as  shown  by  our  conclusion. 

The  physician  is,  of  all  men  living,  the  one  who  has  most  to 
do  with  the  literally  naked  facts  in  the  case  before  us.  He  it  is 
who  is  called  upon  to  make  physical  examination  of  applicants 
for  enlistment  in  the  military  service,  and  many  others  rendered 
necessary  by  accident  or  sudden  invasion  of  disease,  which  in 
sum  }Tield  him  on  this  subject  ample  fund  of  information.  Xo 
such  witness  can  conscientiously  say  that  more  than  a  fraction 
of  the  cases  so  presenting  themselves  evidence  due  regard  for 
the  social  and  hygienic  demands  of  extreme  nicet}'  of  person. 
He  knows  that  examinations  for  enlistment  are  generally  fol- 
lowed by  grateful  ventilation  of  the  rooms  where  they  have  been 
held.  Such,  however,  is  the  effect  of  military  instruction  in  per- 
sonal habits,  and  of  military  discipline  in  the  promotion  of  self- 
respect,  that  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  they  result  in  per- 
manent change  in  men  previous^  negligent  of  cleanliness.  He 
has  similar  experience,  through  the  fact  that  he  is  often  sum- 
moned to  go  to  the  assistance  of  persons  who  have  met  with 
some  serious  accident,  or  who,  without  time  for  adequate  prep- 
aration, perhaps  in  dense  ignorance  of  their  shortcomings  in 
the  matter  of  neatness,  are  suddenly  compelled  to  seek  him  for 

(19T) 


198  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

medical  advice,  [f  the  whole  male  population  of  a  country  could 
at  any  eai'ly  period  of  life  be  temporarily  enrolled,  with  the  solo 
object  of  establishing  cleanliness  as  a  habit,  the  effect  would  be 
to  raise  the  standard  of  health  among  the  people. 

It  is  notorious  that,  as  among  different  nations,  some  are 
more  than  others  addicted  to  the  practice  of  bathing.  This  is 
frequently  ascribable  to  climate.  One  would  scarcely  expect  of 
an  Esquimau  that  he  should  bathe  as  frequently  as  the  inhabi- 
tant of  a  more  genial  climate,  seeing  that  he  has  not  always  even 
water  plenteously  at  his  disposal,  to  say  nothing  of  its  tem- 
perature when  procurable  in  large  quantities.  But.  this  duly 
recognized,  it  remains  true  that,  irrespective  of  climate,  certain 
peoples  more  than  others  practice  bathing.  As  we  all  believe  that 
Englishmen's  talk  about  "  tubbing,"  by  which  they  mean  virtually 
a  sponge-bath,  is  an  exaggeration  of  their  recognized  relative 
virtue  in  respect  of  personal  cleanliness,  as  compared  with  other 
nations  generally,  it  is  thus  admitted  to  have  a  basis  in  fact.  It 
does  not  rest  on  so  firm  a  one,  however,  as  it  would,  if  they  did 
not  favorably  contrast  themselves  with  the  French  especially, 
the  popular  English  prejudice  as  to  whose  general  remissness  in 
this  department  of  manners  Punch  satirized  on  the  occasion  of 
the  Crystal  Palace  Exhibition  by  a  caricature  representing  two 
puzzled  Frenchmen  gazing  earnestly  at  a  pitcher  and  basin,  one 
saying  to  the  other,  "  Qu'  est-ce  que  c'  est  que  cela,  Alphonse?" 

To  state  the  case  unqualifiedly,  as  the  English  do  in  their 
own  favor,  as  against  the  French,  is  very  misleading.  It  thus 
signifies  nothing  less  than  that  all  Frenchmen  are  dirty,  and  all 
Englishmen  clean.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  English 
are  far  greater  travelers  than  are  the  French,  world-wide  travelers, 
while  the  French  nationally  are  no  travelers  at  all,  and  that  the 
traveling  and  writing  class  belong  also  to  the  bathing  class  of 
any  nation.  Thus  it  happens  that  the  tin  tub  of  the  Englishman 
has  penetrated  the  jungles  of  the   world,  astonishing  even  the 


THE  BATH  AS  PROMOTIVE  OF  HEALTH  AND  BEAUTY.     199 

tiger  lurking  in  his  lair  to  watch  the  passing  caravan  ;  and  thus 
it  happens  that  Englishmen,  who  are  most  imitative  of  all  that 
originates  with  Britain,  have,  to  a  man,  come  to  associate  their 
tub  with  the  glories  of  England,  and  to  embalm  its  virtues  in 
the  story  of  their  countless  wanderings  through  a  "nasty  "  world. 
The  English  thus,  in  part  fortuitously,  in  part  by  design,  have  had 
their  bathing  more  en  evidence  than  have  the  French,  and  there- 
fore it  would  be  unsafe  to  infer,  because  the  writing  class  among 
Frenchmen  seldom  mention  their  personal  habits  in  bathing, 
that  they  or  their  compatriots  are  universall}7  neglectful  of  it. 

We  shall,  perhaps,  come  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  truth, 
so  far  as  it  can  be  contained  in  a  general  statement,  if  we  should 
sajr  that  the  English,  as  compared  with  the  French,  are  a  cleaner 
people,  but  that  the  higher  classes  in  both  countries  stand  in 
that  respect  more  nearly  on  a  par  than  the  English  would  lead 
us  to  believe,  with  whom  tubbing  and  talk  about  tubbing  is 
somewhat  of  a  fad.  We  think  that,  if  the  reader  knows  an}-- 
thing  of  the  great  facilities  for  private  bathing  existing  in  the 
principal  cities  of  this  country,  he  can  have  no  doubt  of  the 
general  and  constant  use  of  the  bath  among  all  but  the  lowest 
classes,  and  yet  we  never  hear  Americans  boasting  of  their 
tubbing  or  bathing,  although  thousands  upon  thousands  of  them, 
both  men  and  women,  take  a  bath  of  some  kind,  generally  of 
total  immersion,  eveiy  day  of  their  lives. 

We  have  appealed  to  the  prevalence  of  the  private  bath  in 
our  cities  as  the  best  possible  evidence  of  general  bathing  here 
among  even  people  in  the  humbler  walks  of  life.  If  we  chose, 
we  could  go  on  to  demonstrate,  from  personal  observation,  that 
these  baths  are  habitually  used.  But  if  the}'  exist,  that  ought 
to  be  sufficient  evidence  that  they  are  used.  People  would  not 
go  to  the  expense  of  having  tubs  and  paying  extra  water-rates 
if  they  derived  no  advantage  from  the  bathing-facilities.  And 
just  as  we  deem  the  prevalence  of  the  bath-tub  and  of  water- 


200  BKREDITY,    BEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEA1  DT. 

facilities  in  our  cities  to  be  good  evidence  of  general  bathing 
among  all  but  the  lowest  classes,  so  we  find  the  general  absence 
of  these  in  farm-houses  to  be  equally  good  evidence  of  gene  nil 
neglect  in  the  country  of  the  social  and  hygienic  practice  of  the 
bath.  We  can  remember  in  our  experience  but  one  veritable 
farm-house  where  sucb  facilities  existed.  They  were  secured  by 
means  of  a  tub  in  one  of  the  upper  stories,  for  whose  supply 
water  was  pumped  into  a  reservoir  by  means  of  an  hydraulic 
ram  in  a  neighboring  rapid  brook.  It  would  be  in  vain  to  answer 
that  the  latter  opportunity  is  not  a  Horded  by  every  situation.  It 
can  be  readily  granted,  when  replying  that  there  are  scarcely  any 
situations  where  the  construction  of  a  small  tank  to  receive  the 
rain-fall  from  the  roof  would  not  be  feasible.  There  arc  man} 
farm-houses  where  a  small  windmill  is  used  for  the  delivery  of  a 
supply  of  water  to  cattle,  where  not  a  drop  is  devoted  to  a  reser- 
voir for  purposes  of  ablution.  The  city-bred  look  dejectedly 
around  them  when  inducted  into  their  farm-house  bed-rooms,  as 
the}-  catch  sight  of  the  Lilliputian  towel,  pitcher,  and  basin, rarely 
of  a  foot-tub  or  larger  receptacle  for  bathing  purposes.  If  the 
length  of  their  stay  necessitates  a  bath,  it  is  only  by  superlative 
efforts,  perhaps  the  expressage  of  a  tub  to  the  scene,  that  their 
intention  can  be  accomplished.  If  the  visitor  be  a  man,  the  time 
be  summer,  and  some  kindly  stream  flow  or  brook  brawl  in  the 
neighborhood,  the  difficulty  is  solved.  Otherwise,  the  unfortu- 
nate sojourner  in  the  land  is  forced  to  content  himself  with  the 
bountiful  supply  of  water  that  the  wash-hand  basin  will  hold. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that,  in  the  course  of  time,  this  neglect, 
evidenced  by  the  dearth  of  bathing  appliances  in  the  country, 
will  be  remedied  by  increased  knowledge  of  their  desirability 
for  comfort  and  beauty,  and  appreciation  aroused  as  to  the 
practice  of  bathing  as  a  social  obligation  in  the  interest  of 
personal  agreeableness  and  immunity  from  sickness  and  disease. 
Habit  in  the  individual  becomes  confirmed.     It  is  transmitted 


THE   BATH    AS   PROMOTIVE   OF    HEALTH    AND   BEAUTY.  201 

by  example  to  descendants.  So,  generation  after  generation  of 
people  go  on,  year  after  year,  either  with  personal  habits  of  the 
strictest  cleanliness,  or  with  habits  not  much  better  than  those 
of  the  commonest  emigrant  class.  So  confirmed  are  these  latter 
in  their  neglectful  ways,  that  we  have  often  known  kind  recog- 
nition of  their  sad  estate,  taking  the  form  of  constant  pro- 
vision of  pleasant  bathing  facilities,  to  prove  abortive.  The 
consideration  proved  utterly  wasted  upon  the  intended  recipi- 
ents of  the  kindness,  for  all  the  change  in  habits  that  followed, 
incorrigible  as  thejr  were  in  their  wretched  practice  of  dabbling 
with  a  rag  wrung  out  in  a  quart  or  two  of  water.  How  many 
of  the  refinements  and  gratifications  of  civilization  which  are 
within  the  power  of  persons  living  within  its  pale  seem  to  elude 
their  knowledge,  and,  by  a  strange  contradiction,  fall  to  the  lot 
of  some  of  those  whom  civilization  has  not  touched  even  with 
the  hem  of  its  garment !  On  the  northwestern  shores  of  North 
America,  in  the  Straights  of  Fuca  and  thereabouts,  the  Indian 
women  are  to  be  observed  retiring  to  some  lonety  spot,  dis- 
robing, and  bathing  in  the  pure  water  of  the  coast.  Poor 
creatures,  they  are  compelled  to  dress  themselves  again  in  the 
squalid  garments  of  which  the}r  had  been  temporarily  divested  ! 
But  can  there  be  any  doubt  as  to  which  to  choose,  between  their 
clean,  health}7  skins,  in  their  miserable  apparel,  and  those  which 
amid  civilization  are  sometimes  covered  with  the  fashions  of  the. 
prevailing  mode,  and  scented  to  the  distraction  of  the  more 
refined  ?     Ben  Jonson  says : — 

Still  to  be  neat,  still  to  be  dressed, 

As  you  were  going  to  a  feast, 

Still  to  be  powdered,  still  perfumed ; 

Lady,  it  is  to  be  presumed, 

Though  art's  hid  causes  are  not  found, 

All  is  not  sweet,  all  is  not  sound, 

It  is  the  province  of  the  physician  to  make  himself  acquainted 
with  the  habits  of  people  as  being  more  or  less  conducive  to 


202  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

their  health,     With  that  end  in  view,  we  have,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  never  ceased  to  avail  ourselves  of  all  opportunities  of 
obtaining  information  <>n  the   subjecl   of  persona]  cleanliness, 
among  the  various  other  subjects  which  invited  our  attention. 
It  might  give  an  appearance  of  presumption  on  our  pari,  to 
Bpeak  here  of  what  we  cursorily  observed  abroad.     On  the  other 
hand,  to  omit  all  such  mention  opens   us  to  the    suspicion   of 
avoiding  it.  unless  we  say,  as  we  explicitly  do,  that  we  should 
attempt  to  compass  too  much,  were  we  to  allow  our  treatment 
of  the  subject  to  range  over  the  wide  field  of  comparison  between 
ourselves  and  other  peoples.     Therefore,  as  our  purpose  relates 
particularly  to  our  own  country,  with  which,  as  dermatologist 
and    traveler,  we   may   claim  without   immodesty  to    be    quite 
familiar,  we  shall  confine  ourselves  chiefly  to  remarks  regarding 
it,  with  the  preliminary  understanding  that  there  is  no  intention 
to  speak  to  its  disparagement  in  comparison  with  other  coun- 
tries.    This  ought  to  be  evident   from  what  has  already  been 
said,  but  that  it  may  not  be  left  in  the  least  doubt,  we  add   our 
conviction  that  in  proportion  to  the  population,  among  all  the 
peoples   of  the  earth,  there  are  none,  except  the  Japanese,  so 
cleanly  as  are  generally  the  native-born  people  of  this  country. 
"When,  as  a  physician,  we  here   preach  the  social  and  hygienic 
obligation  of  the  bath,  it  is  because  we  deem  that  general  recog- 
nition of  its  salubrity  has  not  yet  reached  the  point  which   our 
national  prosperity  and  culture  in  other  respects  seem  clearly  to 
indicate,  if  we  would  regard  ourselves  in  that  particular  equal 
in  civilization  to  the  ancient  Greek  and  Roman. 

It  will  doubtless  he  shocking  to  many,  to  whom  the  most 
assiduous  care  of  the  person  is  habitual,  to  learn  that  there 
actually  are  persons  who  pass  through  life  without  ever  having 
had  the  body  wholly  immersed  in  water.  We  once  received  from 
a  girl  of  the  humbler  classes  the  confession  that  she  had  never  had 
a  bath  of  immersion,  nor  knew  of  any  of  her  companions  who 


THE  BATH  AS  PROMOTIVE  OF  HEALTH  AND  BEAUTY.     203 

had  been  so  blessed.  It  was  evident,  however,  that  sli<;  and 
they  craved  the  boon  from  which  unkind  fortune  had  debarred 
them  from  the  realization,  and  the}r  were  to  be  commiserated. 
Individuals  of  even  the  lowest  type  seek  on  occasions  the  solace 
of  the  bath.  Some  years  ago  we  witnessed  on  the  small-pox 
quarantine  island,  in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  the  bathing  of 
some  emigrants  of  that  type,  there  detained  upon  suspicion  of 
possible  contagion  to  the  city.  Poor,  ill-clad,  and  unkempt 
creatures,  who  had  been  mewed  up  in  crowded  quarters  aboard 
ship,  they  fully  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  that  hot  dajT's  refresh- 
ment That  very  class  of  emigrants,  however,  once  fairly 
landed,  away  from  the  close  contamination  of  shipboard  in 
reeking  steerage  quarters,  easily  recognizable  at  any  time  among 
our  population  by  their  elf-locks  and  dirty  appearance,  resumes 
its  habitual  holy  horror  of  pure  water. 

It  must  not  be  imagined,  however,  that  the  indigent  and 
unfortunate  of  mankind  alone  are  those  who  are  invariably 
squeamish  about  the  use  of  water.  There  are  persons  in  contact 
with  the  highest  culture,  who,  through  lack  of  earby  instruction, 
or  innate  indifference,  seem  to  be  possessed  with  almost  an 
aversion  to  it.  We  knew  a  case  where  a  famiby  of  condition 
and  means  came  to  visit  another  which,  down  to  its  smallest 
member,  was  devoted  to  Avater,  and  betraj-ed  through  their 
abstinence  in  the  midst  of  exceptionally  lavish  resources  for 
bathing,  habits  of  life  of  an  entirely  different  cast.  As  we 
intimated  at  the  beginning,  the  multitude  bathe  for  enjoyment 
of  one  kind  or  another,  in  swimming  or  breasting  the  breakers 
or  relief  from  heat,  but  only  the  refined  for  the  pure  and  simple 
satisfaction  of  perfect  cleanliness.  It  is  perhaps  for  this  reason 
that  it  is  ordained  that  the  rain  shall  be  sent  equally  upon  the 
just  and  the  unjust,  that  all  men  may  be  sure  of  getting  an 
occasional  wetting. 

No  criterion  whatever  is  afforded,  by  the  statistics  of  the 


304  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

public  battling  establishments,  as  to  the  relative  tendencies 
of  the  two  sexes  t<>  bathe.  It  will  be  seen,  from  those  sta- 
tistics, thai  the  number  of  men  and  boys  is  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  number  of  women  and  girls  enjoying  the  benefits 
of  those  baths.  It  is  at  the  same  time  observable  that  boys 
preponderate,  that  then  come  men,  then  girls,  and  lastly 
women.  These  numerical  relations  of  sex  and  age,  and  the 
degree  in  which  they  obtain,  tally  exactly  with  the  relative 
habits  of  life  among  the  participants.  Boys  have  a  special  pre- 
dilection for  swimming,  and  often  have  in  the  summer  but  two 
garments  to  embarrass  them,  so  that  their  undressing  and  dress- 
ing is  almost  instantaneous,  and  they  also  have  a  freer  foot  to 
please  themselves  than  has  any  other  class  in  the  community, 
and  therefore  they  are  the  most  numerous  and  assiduous  patrons 
of  the  public  bath.  Men  of  the  laboring  class,  needing  the 
refreshment,  accept  the  trouble  for  the  sake  of  the  gain  of  the 
bath,  but,  having  less  opportunitj"  than  boys  to  indulge  in  it, 
they  are  not  to  be  found  so  numerously  there.  Young  girls  are 
restrained  to  a  certain  degree  from  availing  themselves  of  the 
public  baths  by  shyness,  parental  guardianship,  and  domestic 
duties.  Many  women  are  entirely  debarred  from  making  use  of 
them  b}-  the  demands  of  domestic  duties,  and,  for  the  same 
reason,  many  others  can  avail  themselves  but  rarely  of  the 
privilege. 

We  were  lately  much  surprised  to  see,  in  an  article  by  a 
female  writer,  the  statement  that  women  are  less  fond  than  men 
of  sousing  themselves  in  plenty  of  water.  The  statement  is 
contrary  to  all  experience  of  which  we  have  ever  heard,  or  have 
personally  acquired,  except  as  it  might  have  some  flimsy  basis 
in  fact  from  the  false  notion  of  some  exceptional  women,  that 
water  used  lavishly  upon  the  face  is  injurious  to  the  complexion. 
If  sometimes  there  is  any  appearance  of  men  being  more  than 
women  addicted  to  the  use  of  the  bath,  it  must  arise  from  the 


THE  BATH  AS  PROMOTIVE  OF  HEALTH  AND  BEAUTY.     205 

facts  just  mentioned,  and  that  hitherto,  for  certain  classes,  the 
large  Turkish  and  Russian  bathing  establishments  have  not 
generally  included  apartments  for  women.  Now  that  some  of 
these  are  so  doing,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  women  are  availing 
themselves  of  the  facility.  But  a  barrier  will  always  remain  to 
general  acceptance,  by  women  of  certain  social  rank,  of  baths 
where  they  ma}'  meet  they  know  not  whom,  secure  neither  of  the 
privacy  of  solitariness  nor  of  that  which  belongs  to  entire 
publicity.  This  kind  of  bath,  therefore,  affords  no  test  as  to 
the  proclivity  of  women  as  compared  with  men  to  the  enjoyment 
of  water  in  lavish  quantities.  But  the  private  bath  does,  and  in 
that  women  indulge  more  than  do  men  generally,  parti}'  because 
of  greater  opportunity,  and  partly  because  of  greater  tendency 
to  neatness.  The  sea-beaches  of  man}'  parts  of  the  world  prove, 
too,  that  the  women  are  quite  as  enthusiastic  about  bathing  as 
are  the  men  of  the  same  class.  In  fact,  so  fond  are  they  of  this, 
the  most  energetic  kind  of  bathing,  that  they  cannot  always  be 
kept  within  the  bounds  of  prudence  as  to  the  frequency  or  the 
duration  of  baths. 

It  would  not  be  a  stretch  of  imagination  to  assume,  upon 
the  basis  of  our  experience,  that  girls  and  women  would  be  just 
as  much  given  as  boys  and  men  are  to  disporting  themselves  in 
puris  naturalibus  in  open  water,  were  it  not  for  the  prevalence 
of  so  many  descendants  of  Peeping  Tom  of  Coventry  and  the 
usages  of  polite  society.  In  primitive  places,  they  sometimes 
steal  away,  kindly  veiled  by  the  mantle  of  night,  and  enjoy  a 
plunge  from  the  free  gift  of  nature.  At  such  an  entertainment 
we  once  unintentionally  assisted,  unknown  then  and  forevermore 
to  the  bevy  of  actors  in  the  scene,  unless  perchance  the  eyes  of 
one  of  them  should  scan  these  pages. 

Arriving  near  night-fall,  by  a  long  stage  route,  at  a  quiet 
hamlet,  near  which  now  passes  the  roaring  steam-cars,  we  supped 
pleasantly   at   its   only   inn,   and,   lighting   our  cigar    strolled 


206  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

enjoy.uMy  forth  into  the  summer  night, committing  to  chance  the 
direction  whither  our  footsteps  should  lead.  We  concluded 
afterward,  upon  reflection,  that  we  must  have  been  in  a  very 
brown  study  when  we  were  awakened  to  our  surroundings  by  a 
scream  and  the  sound  of  :i  splash  into  a  brook  bordering  our 
path,  followed  by  the  murmur  of  female  voices  in  alarmed  con- 
sultation. The  situation  did  not  admit  of  an  instant's  doubt, 
as  we  dropped  with  sportsman-like  promptness  behind  some  salt- 
vats  which  providentially  lined  the  border  of  the  stream.  Here, 
within  ear-shot  of  the  whispered  colloquy,  we  had  time  to 
determine  that  our  action  should  be  based  upon  the  initiative 
of  the  other  side.  If  we  were  to  play  mora  in  this  fashion,  we 
were  determined  that  the  other  side  should  show  its  hand  first. 
They  were  at  present  at  the  disadvantage  of  being  disrobed,  but 
we  were  a  stranger  in  town,  and  on  the  morrow  might  be  left 
without  a  shred  of  reputation.  Most  persons,  we  reasoned, 
concluding  that  their  unwelcome  presence  was  positively  known, 
would  run.  We  made  up  our  minds  that  we  were  not  one  of 
those  persons.  If  we  should  beat  a  hasty  retreat,  it  would  be 
imputed  to  having  been  there  with  ulterior  motive.  So  we 
quietly  awaited  events,  merely  raising  our  head  over  the  edge 
of  the  salt-vat  behind  which  we  were  concealed,  and  command- 
ing a  fair  view  of  the  scene.  We  saw  clearly  the  edge  of  the 
bank  and  some  bushes  near  where  the  bathers  Avere  immersed, 
but  nothing  more.  The  increasing  loudness  of  their  voices  gave 
us  assurance  of  growing  belief  that  it  was  a  false  alarm.  At 
last  there  was  a  dead  silence.  "The  cry  is  still — the}- come!" 
In  all  human  difficulties  there  is  a  sacrifice,  the  innocent  are 
offered  up,  the  scape-goat  atones  for  the  sins  of  the  people. 
They  did  not  come,  but  a  girl  about  12  years  of  age  quickly 
emerged  over  the  sharp  edge  of  the  bank,  and  stood  about 
20  yards  away  with  the  most  sublime  confidence  of  bearing. 
Here   was    an   additionally   pretty    state  of  things.     This   was 


THE  BATH  AS  PROMOTIVE  OF  HEALTH  AND  BEAUTY.     207 

evidently  the  chief  sceptic  us  to  the  belief  that  any  intruder 
was  about.  Now,  as  she  gave  immediate  assurance  by  gesture 
and  word  that  they  were  wrong,  suppose  they  should  all  swarm 
up  the  bank  and  the  discovery  be  inevitable.  The  last  state  of 
that  man  would  be  worse  than  the  first.  But,  the  policy  of 
masterly  inactivity  never  had  a  more  signal  triumph.  The 
successful  scout  regained  the  water,  triumphant  shouting  began, 
and  crouching  behind  the  line  of  salt-vats,  we  raced  like  a 
partridge  along  a  furrow  back  to  the  hamlet,  having  made  the 
narrowest  escape  in  our  life. 

Under  other  skies,  there  are  other  ways  not  so  retiring.  In 
Japan,  for  example,  the  bathing  of  the  sexes  is  promiscuous. 
There  is  not  a  thought  of  harm  in  it,  so  potent  is  habit  in  the 
affairs  of  mankind.  And  yet,  taken  in  connection  with  the  high 
civilization  of  the  Japanese,  it  has  justl}*  been  considered  the 
greatest  anomaly  that  enters  into  modern  social  relations.  But, 
that  the  practice  which,  with  the  Japanese,  has  grown  into  a 
social  habit  is  not  actually  contraiy  to  nature,  but  solely 
dependent  upon  social  conditions,  whether  the  growth  of  a 
country  or  belonging  to  inferiority  of  class,  would  have  been 
clearly  evidenced  to  us  by  a  single  experience  that  we  had,  even 
if  every  season  at  some  watering-places  certain  people  did  not 
take,  in  this  respect,  the  fullest  liberty  that  the  law  allows.  At 
a  lonely  sea-side  summer-resort  where  business  once  called  us 
just  before  the  influx  of  city  guests,  there  arrived,  as  we  sa£, 
solitary  and  alone  on  the  porch  of  the  little  hotel,  contemplating 
an  expanse  of  bajr  and  sea,  four  light  wagons  containing  as 
man}-  pairs  of  young  men  and  girls  from  a  neighboring  town. 
The  horses  duly  cared  for,  after  the  exasperating  search  for  the 
amateur  hostler  usually  employed  at  such  places,  the  girls  took 
seats  upon  the  porch,  and  the  young  men  sauntered  away 
toward  a  salient  point  about  three  hundred  yards  oft'  along  the 
beach  where  the}"  were  lost  to  sight.     Much  to  our  astonishment, 


208  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

however,  soon  appeared  from  the  bushes  an  animated  forked 

radish  skipping  down  the  beach  to  the  water's  edge,  soon 
followed  by  three  similar  apparitions,  completing  the  tale  of  the 
male  visitors.  But  were  these  objects  the  male  visitors,  who 
might,  for  all  we  knew  to  the  contrary,  be  calmly  strolling  out 
of  sight  behind  the  point?  All  doubt,  however,  was  set  at  rest 
by  one  of  the  girls,  who  exclaimed,  "  There  goes  Bill, "just  as  the 
phrase  occurs  in  "Alice's  Adventures  in  Wonderland."  "No  it 
isn't. "  said  another,  "its  Bob."  "Why,  don't  I  know  Bill?" 
was  the  rejoinder.  "  Why,  so  it  is,"  was  the  final  conclusion, — 
"  There  goes  John."  And  there  seemed  to  be  no  doubt  about  the 
rest.  These  points  being  settled  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  the 
parties  concerned,  I  deemed  that  they  ought  to  be  equall}'  satis- 
factory to  me,  so,  as  a  philosopher,  I  meditated  on  the  variability 
of  mankind.  Here  was  a  new  experience  in  our  own  country, 
of  which  we  thought  we  had  exhausted  the  experiences. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  disprove  any  assertion  that,  as 
between  the  sexes,  there  is  any  difference  as  to  the  instinct  of 
bathing.  We  feel  justified  in  repeating,  in  addition,  that  early 
training  or  absence  of  it  makes  the  chief  differences  observable 
in  the  habit  as  between  different  classes  of  societ}',  that  although, 
as  a  general  rule,  refined  surroundings  in  the  earl}-  part  of  life 
tell  favorably  in  the  majority  of  cases,  exceptional  ones  are  to 
be  found  despite  the  greatest  advantages,  and  that,  with  the 
mass  of  mankind  of  both  sexes,  comfort  and  pleasure  in  bathing, 
not  cleanliness,  are  the  chief  inducements,  the  world  over,  to 
the  practice. 

There  is  one  aspect  of  bathing  which,  although  inferential 
from  what  has  been  outlined  with  reference  to  the  practice,  is  so 
important  that  it  has  been  reserved  for  separate  consideration. 
This  i>  it-  relation  to  sexual  selection.  There  are  many  degrees 
below  actual  offensiveness  of  odor,  the  presence  of  slight  odor, 
or  even  the  absence  of  odor,  where  the  degree  of  neatness  may 


THE  BATH  AS  PROMOTIVE  OF  HEALTH  AND  BEAUTY.    209 

still  fail  to  attract,  and  this,  again,  is  far  removed  from  that 
which  positively  attracts  and  charms. 

Women  sometimes  marvel  at  the  attractiveness  which  the 
demi-mondaine  often  has  for  men  of  the  world.  "  The  horrid 
creatures,  what  can  any  decent  man  see  to  admire  in  them?" 
Well,  it  is  "  wondrous  pitiful,"  but  the  secret  is  not  far  to  seek. 
They  never  cease  to  try  to  please.  They  neglect  none  of  the 
means  of  pleasing.  They  carry  neatness  of  person  to  perfection. 
The  casket  of  their  riches  in  influence  contains  no  stronger 
chain  to  bind  men's  souls.  It  is  their  business  to  understand 
men,  and  they  understand  their  business.  It  is  a  slave-trade 
which  they  ply,  of  which  we  know  not  the  beginning  nor  shall 
ever  know  the  end.  It  is  wondrous  pitiful  that  this  should  be 
so.  Summon  the  clergy,  advance  them  to  the  front  with  bell, 
book,  and  candle,  to  exorcise  the  enemy  of  mankind.  But  if 
they  would  expect  to  cope  with  him 'let  them  adopt  his  hygienic 
practices. 

Instead  of  the  cry  of  a  year  or  two  ago,  "  Is  life  worth 
living  ?"  we  have  now  instead,  the  inquiry,  "  Is  marriage  a 
failure?"  One  question  is  sometimes  largely  involved  in  the 
other.  Marriage,  as  an  institution,  is  certainly  not  a  failure,  as 
our  civilization,  which  is  founded  upon  it,  clearly  attests.  But 
from  causes  too  numerous  to  mention  here,  cases  of  it  may  be 
failures.  Even  a  husband's  or  wife's  relations  sometimes  make 
it  a  failure.  Religion  sometimes  does  ;  contention  over  propert}', 
over  the  training  of  children,  over  personal  preferences.  But  if 
any  one  can  show  us  a  cause  more  potent  than  neglect  after 
marriage  of  observances  which  before  marriage  were  constant, 
we  shall  be  surprised. 

After  making  ail  due  allowance  for  the  fact  that  in  this 
workaday  world  two  people  cannot  expect  to  go  on  forever 
junketing,  that  men  must  generally  return  seriously  to  bread- 
winning,  and  women  to  feminine  occupations,  a  great  chasm 


210  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

possible  to  be  bridged  over  is  often  left  to  yawn  in  the  paths  of 
pleasantness  leading  to  those  of  peace.  Thousands  of  young 
men  and  young  women  have  very  little  education,  no  fixed 
tastes,  no  ideas,  no  society.  They  bave  exhausted  each  other's 
soil  of  the  little  that  had  there  grown,  and  upon  marriage  they 
begin  to  lie  fallow  to  each  other  for  the  rest  of  their  lives.  The 
eye,  which  of  the  mere  senses,  longest  continues  capable  of  being 
pleased,  ceases  to  have  home  resources.  The  girl  who  before 
marriage  has  often  been  most  attractive  by  her  neatness  and 
plumage,  now  often  put  on  her  fine  feathers  only  to  go  abroad, 
while  she  is  the  veriest  jackdaw  indoors.  At  home  she  wears 
frowsy  hair  and  broken-out  shoes,  because  there  is  no  one  there 
to  dress  for.  Her  helpmate,  who  ought  to  know,  does  not  think 
that  she  looks  a  bit  like  the  girl  that  he  married.  He  has 
become  equally  remiss  in  his  wa}rs.  It  is  true,  that  as  society 
does  not  demand  of  a  man  that  he  shall  be  a  thing  of  beauty, 
and  his  daily  duties  abroad  constrain  him  to  some  carefulness  in 
dress,  he  has  not  quite  so  high  a  heaven  to  descend  from  as  has 
his  partner,  and  does  not.  He  comes  to  find  "  the  fellows,"  a 
club,  a  restaurant  dinner,  more  attractive  than  home. 

Neither  probably  began  it.  How  foolish  those  conventions 
are  which  tell  us  that  the  sexes  are  not  capable  of  equal  de- 
pravity and  equal  excellence  ;  that  one  sex  is  not  fitted  for  the 
other,  as  if  they  had  not  been  created  for  each  other  and  molded 
each  other  to  their  liking;  that  the  world  would  be  changed  for 
the  better,  the  best,  and  bliss,  if  only  women  had  it  all  their  own 
way !  The  common  case  is  simply  one  of  a  destin}-  very  rough- 
hewn  indeed,  because  the  judgment  was  not  sharp.  To  attribute 
the  fault  exclusively  to  one  sex,  and  to  exonerate  the  other,  is 
the  fruit  of  the  poorest  observation  and  philosophy.  In  the 
first  place,  the  sexes  are  not  involved  in  the  question,  save  as 
related  to  a  small  minority  of  individuals  of  both  sexes.  When 
individuals,  as  representing  one  or  the  other  or  both,  either  for 


THE  BATH  AS  PROMOTIVE  OF  HEALTH  AND  BEAUTY.     211 

cause  or  no  cause,  cease  to  exercise  after  marriage  the  attrac- 
tions which  have  conducted  them  to  the  altar,  they  cannot  in 
concert   meet   the   trials    inseparable    from    the    struggle    for 

existence. 

It  follows  that,  whether  relatively  faulty  or  not,  if  women 
especially,  who  by  instinct,  training,  and  formal  profession  of 
their  recognition  of  the  elements  in  which  their  influence  re- 
sides, neglect  in  any  way  the  habitual  care  of  their  persons, 
whether  as  to  cleanliness  of  skin,  neatness  of  dress,  or  adorn- 
ment, they  deliberately  relinquish  their  power  over  men,  no 
matter  what  the  social  relations  may  be  between  them,  for  by 
that  act  the}'  neglect  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  their  power, 
and  begin  to  descend  the  steps  of  their  throne.  Woman  herself 
it  was,  who,  conjointly  with  man,  defined  the  terms  upon  which 
she  should  share  his  destiny.  A  consenting  party  to  the  act 
defining  her  status,  by  which  she  has  become  all  that  she  now  is, 
she  cannot  maintain  it  if  neglectful  of  clearly  defined  obligations 
to  her  willing  subjects.  A  part  of  her  mission  on  earth  is  not 
necessaril}7  to  be  beautiful,  for  nature  has  the  final  word  to  say 
as  to  that,  but  to  he  as  attractive  as  nature  will  permit.  The 
worldly  wisdom  of  the  unscrupulous  class,  to  which  we  alluded 
not  long  since,  smiles  contemptuous^  at  the  frequent  blindness 
of  good  women  to  the  silken  strand  by  which  the  liking  and 
affection  of  some  men  maj'  be  securely  held. 

One  may  be  very  certain,  we  repeat,  that  with  the  multitude, 
the  comfort  and  pleasure  of  the  bath  are  the  chief  incentives,  the 
world  over,  to  the  practice  of  bathing.  Therefore  it  is  that 
it  is  so  desirable  to  inculcate  the  practice  in  earty  youth, 
that  it  may  become  the  habit  of  life.  Given  the  heat  of  summer, 
the  suffering  that  always  and  the  sleeplessness  that  sometimes 
ensue,  and  few  there  are  who  do  not  gladhv  bathe.  In  fact,  the 
wish  to  bathe,  under  these  circumstances,  is  truly  instinctive. 
But  we  looking  at  the  matter  as  a  physician,  know  that,  for 


212  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

health  and  beauty,  bathing  is  necessary  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year,  if  practiced  according  to  rules  that  are  perfectly  well 
established,  recognizing  all  conditions  present, — temperament, 
age,  state  of  health,  digestion  completed,  the  temperature  of  the 
air  where  the  bath  is  taken,  and  the  temperature  of  the  water. 

The  promiscuous  bathing  of  the  Romans  did  not  take  place 
until  the  time  of  the  decadence  of  the  empire,  and  even  thru  did 
not  involve  the  matrons  and  daughters  of  the  higher  ranks  of 
the  people.  The  change  was  one  of  the  notes  of  the  depravity 
of  the  times, being  a  new  departure  in  manners  involving  morals; 
Not  so,  however,  is  it  with  the  Japanese.  All  travelers  -wc 
agreed  that,  with  them,  up  to  the  very  present  time,  when  they 
are  assimilating  themselves  more  and  more  to  European  ways, 
the  government  discountenancing  the  continuance  of  the  prac- 
tice of  the  promiscuous  bathing  of  the  sexes,  it  had  no  relation 
whatever  to  morals.  Even  so  late  an  observer  as  Mr.  La  Farge, 
the  artist,  indicates  this  in  one  of  his  articles  on  Japan,  where 
he,  incidentally  to  describing  his  arrival  at  the  town  of  Utsun- 
oniya,  and  taking  a  refreshing  bath  after  a  hot  day's  journey, 
says  that  he  saw  "a  whole  family,  father,  mother,  children,  file 
down  to  the  big  bath-room  at  the  corner,  whose  windows  were 
open  to  mine.  I  heard  them  romp  and  splash,  and  saw  their 
naked  arms  shining  through  the  steam.  Meditating  upon 
the  differences  which  make  propriety  in  different  places,  I  joined 
my  friends  at  dinner  and  listened  to  what  the  doctor  had  to  say 
upon  the  Japanese  indifference  to  nudity  ;  how  Japanese  morals 

are  not  affected  by  the  simplicity  of  their  costume 

Then  came  the  question  whether  this  be  a  reminiscence  of  Poly- 
nesian  ancestry  and  simplicity,  or  born  of  climate  and  cleanli- 
ness. And,  indeed,  all  Japan  spends  most  of  its  time  washing, 
so  that  the  very  runners  bathe  more  times  a  day  than  our  fine 
ladies."  By  day-dawn  Mr.  La  Farge  w:is  awakened  by  the 
various  noises  of  the  courtyard,  in  front  of  his  -window.     "  Our 


THE  BATH  AS  PROMOTIVE  OF  HEALTH  AND  BEAUTY.     213 

Japanese  family,"  he  says,  "  I  could  hear  at  their  ablutions." 
And  in  the  course  of  the  day's  journey  toward  the  mountains 
he  saw  Japanese  runners  washing  by  pouring  paili'uls  of 
water  over  each  other. 

So  it  is  in  Japan;  bathe,  bathe,  wash,  wash,  all  the  time, 
from  morning  until  night.  No  one  who  has  ever  witnessed  it 
ever  thinks  the  various  processes  anything  but  beneficial  to  the 
skin.  The  scarf-skin,  being  albuminous,. is  slightly  thinned  by 
the  use  upon  it  of  water  and  the  alkali  which  goes  to  the  forma- 
tion of  soap.  Even  by  friction  with  water  alone,  it  becomes 
more  and  more  constantly  renewed  b}'  the  layers  beneath  it.  It 
becomes,  by  combined  ablution  and  friction,  soft,  pliant,  and 
finer  than  satin  in  the  appearance  of  its  texture.  Besides  this, 
bathing  has  upon  the  corium,  or  true  skin,  a  revitalizing  influ- 
ence, and  thence  upon  the  general  system,  and  thence,  by  reaction, 
upon  itself.  Combined  with  the  proper  kinds  of  soaps,  avoiding 
the  irritating  ones,  bathing  removes  from  the  skin  all  effete  oily 
products,  scarf-skin  scales,  crusts,  and  everything  that  may 
impede  the  performance  of  its  natural  functions,  or  afford  a 
lodgment  to  disease. 

To  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  how  far  below  the  civilization 
of  the  Japanese  many  Americans  are  in  these  matters,  we  will 
take  no  extreme  case  by  way  of  illustration,  but  that  of  a  very 
respectable  man  in  a  distant  State,  who  once  freefy  expressed  to 
us  his  views  on  the  subject,  without  the  slightest  suspicion  of 
how  wofulfy  ignorant  he  was  about  it.  He  decided  that  it  is 
wrong  to  bathe  a  baby  every  day,  lest  something  may  be  removed 
that  nature  had  intended  for  the  protection  of  the  skin.  That 
was  the  way  in  which  he  expressed  his  objection.  We  gathered 
from  his  reply  to  our  question  as  to  what  was  the  nature  of  the 
substance  to  which  he  alluded,  that  he  meant  the  oil  of  the  skin. 
Here  was  a  case  where  knowledge  and  ignorance  were  so  com- 
fortably wedded,  and  reliant  upon  the   opinions  of  preceding 


214  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    A\l>   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

generations, as  to  make  it  impossible  to  shake  the  conviction  ;  so 
we  did  not  attempt  the  impossible. 

It  is  true,  as  we  have  already  shown  in  the  chapter  on  the 
skin  as  an  organ  of  the  body,  that  nature  secretes  and  excretes 
oil  for  the  protection  of  the  skin,  even  to  the  point  of  meeting 
emergencies,  as  we  had  occasion  to  indicate  in  the  same  connec- 
tion, li  is  also  true  that  we  can  use  such  caustic  soaps,  or  excess 
of  borax,  as  to  remove  the  oil  in  quantities  so  great  as  to  be 
detrimental  to  the  healthiness  of  the  skin.  But  there  the  half- 
truth  which  the  objector  urged  ends  with  the  unwisdom  of  his 
conclusion.  The  body  may  be  bathed  daily,  with  the  use  of  the 
more  delicate  soaps,  with  no  undue  removal  of  the  oil  of  the 
skin,  and  with  perfect  maintenance  of  its  fine  condition.  Nature 
does  not  cease  to  yield  its  store  of  lubricating  material  because 
the  scarf-skin  is  kept  cleansed.  But  the  oil,  which,  having-  per- 
formed its  purpose,  remains  on  the  surface  of  the  skin  in  a 
degraded  form,  clogging  the  pores  and  preventing  the  freest 
issue  of  the  eli'ete  products  of  the  body,  requires  the  combined 
detersive  influence  of  pure  water  and  good  soap  for  its  removal, 
and  should  have  them.  From  its  pure  source  of  supply  wells 
up,  as  nature  requires  it,  whatever  the  skin  in  health  demands 
for  its  best  condition.  Can  any  one  imagine,  and  yet  this  objector 
must  have  done  so,  that  any  skin  can  be  fragrant  if  the  oily 
product  of  the  sebaceous  glands  be  retained  upon  it?  Much 
more  probable  is  it,  however,  that  he  had  never  seen  a  thoroughly 
well-conditioned  baby,  or,  if  he  had,  that  his  sensibility  was  not 
acute  enough  to  detect  the  difference  between  it  and  one  of  the 
kind  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed.  It  is  the  very  best 
practice,  adopting  the  precautions  of  a  warm  room  and  tepid 
water,  a  short  immersion,  a  brisk  towelling,  and  quick  dressing, 
to  bathe  an  infant  every  morning  of  its  life,  when  it  is  well,  just 
before  it  takes  its  second  meal  of  milk  or  other  food  for  the  day. 
Only  upon  these  terms  can  it  be  perfectly  healthy  and  sweet  in 


THE  BATH  AS  PROMOTIVE  OF  HEALTH  AND  BEAUTY.     215 

person,  and  it  will  be,  if  healthy,  fragrant  as  a  rose.  If,  as  is 
true,  this  delicate  creature  is  by  constant  bathing  benefited,  its 
vitality  increased,  its  greatest  immunity  from  disease  secured, 
the  process  is  one  which  cannot  harm,  but  must  improve  the 
physical  condition  of  any  grosser  being.  And  so  we  find,  where 
there  is  knowledge  of  its  efficacy,  the  process  applied  equally 
to  relieving  a  lowered  tone  of  the  system,  and  to  the  increase 
and  maintenance  of  great  vitality  and  strength. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

BATHING   AS   PRACTICED   IN    ANCIENT    AND   MODERN   TIMES. 

A  FULL  account  of  bathing  as  now  practiced,  independent 
of  the  history  of  bathing  in  ancient  and  modern  times, 
would  in  itself  fill  a  volume.  We  are  therefore  confined  to  such 
general  and  special  considerations,  in  both  branches  of  the 
subject,  as  may  be  treated  of  within  moderate  limits. 

Bathing  may  be  regarded  as  divisible  into  four  kinds,  as 
determined  bjr  the  motives  prompting  and  the  objects  sought  to 
be  accomplished  by  the  practice.  These  are,  for  recreation 
and  comfort;  for  cleanliness  in  the  interest  of  general  health  and 
agreeableness  ;  for  increasing  vigor  and  beauty  of  person  ;  and, 
lastly,  for  medical  treatment. 

As  to  the  last  object,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that,  only  very 
recently  has  the  regular  medical  profession  accorded  an}^  large 
measure  of  acceptance  to  hydropathic  treatment  in  disease. 
Hydropathy,  so-called,  for  a  long  period,  and  even  yet  in  some 
degree  associated  with  a  visionary  pathology,  which  fitted  treat- 
ment to  nearly  all  the  ills  which  flesh  is  heir  to,  generally  repelled 
regular  physicians.  A  similar  consequence  ensued  from  a  similar 
cause  in  the  case  of  electropathy.  The  beginning  and  end  of 
the  affair  in  both  cases  are  not  anomalous.  From  the  times  of 
Hippocrates,  Aristotle,  and  Galen,  down  to  the  present  era,  the 
main  bod}'  of  physicians  found  to  its  hand,  or  had  proffered  to 
it  by  the  laity  or  some  of  their  own  brethren,  procedures  which 
it,  as  a  wisely  conservative  body  of  men,  was  not  willing  at  a 
moment's  notice  to  accept.  The  duty  of  such  men,  besides  being 
pioneers  in  discovery,  is  to  prove  all  things  and  hold  fast  only 
that  which  is  good. 

The  day  has  now  arrived  when  the  regular  profession  will 

(217) 


218  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

accepl  hydropathy  and  electropathy  within  due  limitations. 
Under  the  names  of  hydro-therapy  and  electro-therapy,  the  most 
advanced  physicians  of  the  day  now  frankly  accept  in  them 
whatever  facts  have  been  ascertained  as  to  both,  regardless  of 
their  source,  and  have  themselves  made  greater  strides  in  dis- 
covery in  the  department  of  electro-therapy  than  can  he  dis- 
cerned in  its  history  during  the  whole  period  there  of  the  reign 
of  quackery.  It  is  most  natural  that  this  should  ever  be  the 
tenor  of  events,  since  physicians  work  from  the  basis  of  sound 
pathology,  unmodified  to  suit  the  exigencies  of  any  special  treat- 
ment, and  upon  that  of  a  fund  of  the  greatest  general  scientific 
knowledge  of  the  day. 

But  here,  with  this  brief  mention  of  the  present  status  of 
hydropathic  treatment,  a  word  as  to  which  could  hardly  be 
omitted  in  an  account  of  the  application  of  water  to  the  surface 
of  the  human  body,  we  dismiss  the  topic  as  only  indirectly 
connected  with  the  subject  of  this  work.  Hydro-therapy  relates 
to  the  cure  of  disease  by  means  of  water,  whereas  bathing  relates 
to  the  maintenance  and  increase  of  health.  One  point,  however, 
within  hydro-therapeutic  treatment  should  be  mentioned  in  con- 
clusion, as  not  unduly  trenching  on  our  necessarily  assigned 
limits,  because  it  should  be  known  in  every  household.  This  is 
as  to  the  calming  effect  of  the  tepid  bath.  Knowledge  of  the 
fact  can  be  utilized  for  many  home  purposes.  So  sedative  to  the 
nervous  system  is  the  tepid  bath,  that,  in  a  properly-heated 
atmosphere,  children  taken  screaming  from  their  beds,  in  a 
paroxysm  of  colic,  and,  plunged  into  it,  have  been  instantly  and 
permanently  relieved  of  pain. 

With  the  permission  of  the  reader,  we  will  begin  our  de- 
scription of  bathing  facilities  with  those  of  the  ordinary  city 
appliances  for  household  bathing.  These,  at  their  minimum,  are 
a  '.rood-sized  metal-lined  tub,  with  a  sloping  back, — all  good 
features  of  the  construction.     The  only  household  addition  to 


BATHING   AS   PRACTICED   IN    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN    TIMES.      219 

this  is  the  cold  and  warm  shower-bath, — a  very  useful  appliance 
if  not  abused.  Cold  shower-baths  should  be  taken  with  strict 
reference  to  the  capacity  of  reaction  in  the  individual  bather. 
We  have  known  persons  to  come  blue-lipped  from  a  five-minute 
immersion  in  the  ocean.  Some  delicate  constitutions  cannot 
bear  the  combined  salt-  and  cold-water  stimulation.  So,  also, 
there  are  some  persons  who  cannot  bear  cold  fresh  water, 
whether  in  quiet  contact  with,  or  falling  in  a  shower  upon,  the 
body.  The  supreme  test  of  whether  good  is  being  done  has 
*back  of  it  the  opinion  of  all  the  physicians  of  the  world.  It  is 
contained  in  the  answer  to  the  question,  Is  there  a  good  reaction? 
A  good  reaction  is  that  in  which,  when  the  skin  is  rubbed 
vigorously  with  a  towel,  the  blood  freely  rushes  to  the  surface. 
If,  upon  being  rubbed,  the  surface  becomes  instantly  red  and 
tingling,  there  is  the  most  beneficial  effect;  if  not,  not.  Injury 
lies  on  one  side  of  the  line,  benefit  on  the  other.  .To  some 
persons  health  may  lie  on  one  side  of  the  line  and  death  on  the 
other.  All  the  persons  whom  we  have  known  who  boasted  of 
breaking  a  film  of  ice  to  take  their  morning  baths  have  died 
early.  As  was  declared  in  ancient  times  of  oratory,  that  it 
depends  upon  action,  action,  action,  we  say,  of  good  to  be  derived 
from  bathing,  that  it  depends  upon  reaction,  reaction,  reaction. 
The  towels  used  should  be  rough  as  to  their  surface.  Hucka- 
back toweling  is  good,  and  Turkish  best  of  all. 

It  is  important  that  a  bath-tub  should  be  lined  with  what 
becomes  readily  heated  by  conduction,  and  can  easily  be  cleansed. 
Beauty  should  be  the  last  consideration  in  its  construction.  The 
justification  of  a  bath-tub's  being  is  first  use  and  then  beauty. 
Use  prescribes  avoidance,  for  a  bath-tub,  of  a  material  whose 
specific  heat  is  low.  The  most  beautiful  tubs  for  bathing  that 
we  ever  saw  were  in  the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  in  New  Orleans. 
They  were  made  of  Carrara  marble,  and  handsomely  sculptured 
outside.     But  stone  does  not  conduct  heat  well,  and  its  specific 


220  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

heat  is  low.  It  is  not  agreeable  to  have  one's  bare  back 
supported  by  marble. 

There  is  a  rage  now  for  tile  bath-tubs.  Tiles  have  their 
decorative   uses,  but   not    legitimately    Tor    bath-tubs.      Their 

specific  heat  is  not  so  low,  nor  their  power  of  conducting  heat 
so  poor,  if  we  mistake  not,  as  those  conditions  are  in  marble; 
nevertheless,  for  the  same  and  other  reasons,  one  of  which  is 
that  they  cannot,  at  the  tile  junctions,  be  kept  so  clean,  they  do 
not  make  proper  bath-tubs,  and  whatever  does  not  naturally 
fit  a  purpose  cannot  be  handsome  as  applied  to  that  purpose,' 
whatever  may  be  its  intrinsic  beauty. 

A  porcelain  lining  conducts  heat  well.  Its  cleanliness  for 
a  bath  is  a  great  charm.  A  porcelain  bath-tub  is,  however, 
quite  expensive  as  compared  with  the  ordinary  kind.  Cellu- 
loid could  be  adapted  to  the  same  purpose.  But  we  confess 
that,  if  we  were  a  millionaire,  we  should  have  a  silver-lined 
bath-tub.  Silver  is  an  extraordinary  conductor  of  heat,  as 
an}'  one  can  determine  for  himself,  if  he  will  put  a  teaspoon 
into  a  cup  of  hot  tea,  and  soon  feel  the  top  of  its  handle. 
In  the  open  air  silver  does  not  tarnish  at  all.  In  house 
air  it  tarnishes  only  slightly,  from  the  presence  there  of 
a  trace  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen.  If  a  tub  lined  with  it 
were  wiped  out  daily,  as  all  bath-tubs  should  be,  the  film  of 
sulphide  of  silver  would  be  inappreciable  to  the  sight.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  silver  surface,  as  silver  is  susceptible  to  the 
smallest  trace  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  would  make  a  super- 
lative test  for  normal  house  purity  of  air  in  the. bath-room,  which 
in  so  man}'  modern  houses  is  associated  with  a  water-closet. 

The  only  additional  appliance  which  we  could  suggest  for 
household  bathing,  for  the  case  of  handsomely -appointed  dwell- 
ings, would  be  one  enabling  a  person  to  take  a  pure-vapor  or  a 
medicated-vapor  bath.  Only  a  very  small  amount  of  room  is 
necessary   for   the    purpose.     A   suitable  device   for  it  will  be 


BATHING   AS  PRACTICED   IN   ANCIENT   AND   MODERN   TIMES.      221 

described  biter,  under  the  head  of  Turkish  and  Russian  baths. 
In  a  household,  such  a  device  would  prove  most  convenient  upon 
man}'  occasions.  Violent  colds  can  be  reduced  with  the  utmost 
certainty  by  a  vapor  bath,  if  followed  by  the  warm  wrapping  up 
of  the  person  in  bed.  Cutaneous  disorders  are  often  excellently 
treated  by  sulphur  and  other  medicated  baths. 

There  are  soaps  and  soaps;  some  good,  some  bad.  Some- 
times the  cost  that  should  have  entered  into  them  to  secure 
goodness  has  gone  too  largely  into  advertising.  Lubin's  we 
regard  as  the  best  toilet-soap  in  the  world.  But  it  is  too  ex- 
pensive to  be  used  for  bathing  purposes  by  persons  of  ordinary 
means.  For  the  face  and  hands,  however,  if  used  economically, 
not  allowed  to  waste  by  hying  in  water,  it  cannot  be  regarded 
as  uneconomical.  Pears's  soap  is  good,  but  by  no  means  the 
wonderful  creation  represented,  the  beauty  of  the  most  lovely 
of  professional  beauties  depending  upon  it.  There  is  nothing 
better  than  pure  castile-soap  for  general  washing  purposes, — real 
castile-soap.  If  one  can  get  pure-white  castile-soap,  one  cannot 
do  better  for  healthy  application  to  the  skin.  It  is  always  sought 
for  in  its  purest  form  for  the  skin  of  infants. 

The  public  seems  to  imagine  that  there  is  something 
mysterious  in  the  production  of  soap.  They  seem  to  regard 
every  new,  well-advertised  soap  as  an  essentially  novel  discovery 
of  some  highly-gifted  inventor.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  best 
qualities  of  soap  are  rather  negative  than  positive.  Soap  is 
simpty  a  detersive  or  cleansing  compound,  which  acts,  in  com- 
bination with  water  and  the  oily  products  of  the  skin,  in  form- 
ing an  emulsion,  which  the  mass  of  water  constituting  the  bath 
readily  dissolves,  carrying  with  it  the  whole  of  the  effete  sweat 
and  sebaceous  products  of  the  skin,  scales  of  scarf-skin,  and 
extraneous  dirt.  That  combination,  therefore,  which  best  repre- 
sents the  ingredients  of  soap  in  their  greatest  purity  makes  the 
best  soap.     Through  such  qualities  one  is  enabled  to  cleanse  the 


2±2  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEA1  TT. 

skin  with  the  most  pleasantly  soothing  application  adapted  to  its 

Soup-;  liL'iiiix  made  simply  of  an  alkali  ami  oik  and  addi- 
tionally sometimes  scentod.it  follows  that,  the  finer  the  alkali, 
the  oil,  and  the  perfume,  the  liner  will  be  the  soap.  The  differ- 
ences in  the  qualities  of  these  substances  is  immense.  Our 
knowledge  in  such  matters  is  far  beyond  that  of  the  ancients, 
and  even  that  of  our  immediate  ancestors.  The  Greeks  and 
Romans  had  no  true  soaps,  the  substitutes  used  for  them  being 
oils  and  ointments  and  the  flour  of  lentils.  The  civet-scented 
beau  of  even  a  couple  of  centuries  ago  would  not  be  more  wel- 
come in  society  now  than  would  be  the  presence  of  a  billy-goat. 

We  remember  that,  as  a  boy,  we  read  a  book  on  foreign 
travel,  intended  in  places  to  be  funny,  but  funny  only  in  an  ac- 
count of  how  the  writer,  as  bathed  in  Turkey,  had  had  every 
joint  in  his  body  cracked  in  succession,  the  performance  closing 
with  a  painful  attempt  on  his  backbone.  There  are  baths  where 
the  process  also  includes  being  switched.  We  determined  that 
we  would  be  switched  rather  than  that  anybocby  should  try  to 
crack  our  backbone.  In  fact,  we  were  so  sure  of  our  anatomi- 
cal make-up,  that  we  were  confident  that  if  anybody  should 
succeed  in  cracking  our  backbone,  there  would  be  no  object  in 
proceeding.  But,  shortly  afterward,  when  we  were  grown-up, 
the  work  of  Dr.  Erasmus  Wilson,  than  whom  we  do  not  know  of 
a  higher  authorit}-  on  bathing  and  cognate  matters,  destroyed 
our  theory  of  the  impracticability  of  cracking  backbones,  b}' 
quoting  a  trustworthy  witness  of  the  performance.  However, 
he  was  not  referring  to  our  backbone.  We  have  resolved 
to  draw  the  line  of  cracking  bones  at  that  point.  There  we 
should  stand  to  fight,  unless  it  were  attempted  by  such  a  person 
as  one  of  whom  we  had  experience  in  the  Swedish-Movement 
Cure.  Wishing  to  investigate  the  merits  of  that  system,  we 
once  presented  ourselves  at  an  establishment  where  it  was  prac- 


BATHING   AS   PRACTICED   IN   ANCIENT    AND   MODERN    TIMES.       223 

ticecl,  and  were  received  by  a  little  man,  who  placed  us  on  a 
table  and  performed  various  antics  with  us.  At  lasl  lie  mounted 
upon  the  table,  and  partly  upon  our  shoulders,  remarking  that 
the  system  prescribed,  among  its  movements,  resistance  to  the 
muscular  force  of  the  operator.  The  absurdity  of  the  per- 
formance reached  its  climax  when  we  found  him  perched  Like  a 
sparrow  on  our  shoulders,  trying-  in  vain  to  force  them  one  way 
or  another,  calling  upon  us  to  resist.  "  Resist,"  quotha !  Why, 
there  was  nothing  to  resist  that  the  vis  inertise  did  not  amply 
suffice  to  overcome.  That  is  the  only  kind  of  person  that  we 
don't  object  to  for  cracking  our  backbone.  "We,  therefore,  upon 
second  thoughts,  draw  the  line  there,  instead  of  objecting  to  the 
mere  abstract  cracking  of  it. 

If,  in  our  American  so-called  Turkish  and  so-called  Russian 
baths,  they  do  not  attempt  to  crack  our  backbones,  the}'  cer- 
tainly do  try  our  patience.  In  them,  "  every  prospect  pleases, 
and  only  man  is  vile."  Instead  of  their  having  thoroughly 
trained  attendants,  who  understand  what  they  profess  to  know, 
and  who  are  aware  that  they  do  not  understand  what  they 
cannot  possibly  know,  we  find  indifferent  shampooers  with 
astonishing  knowledge  of  the  therapeutic  value  of  the  just 
sequence  of  bathing  processes,  of  heat  and  time  and  all  things 
else  adapted  to  suit  every  different  organization  and  special  need. 
All  that  our  baths  require  to  make  them  excellent  is  skillful 
shampooers  who  know  and  mind  their  business.  Turkish  sham- 
pooers would  make  them  perfect,  for  we  have  the  water,  the 
heat,  the  vapor,  the  toweling,  the  soap,  the  coffee,  the  segars.the 
mineral  waters,  all  the  requisites  for  enjoyment  but  the  presence 
of  skillful  masseurs  who  do  not  presume  to  think,  but  rnereby 
know  their  trade.  A  Turkish  or  a  Russian  bath  without  skillful 
shampooing  puts  one  in  the  position  of  the  Peri  at  the  gates  of 
Paradise,  without  the  final  bliss  ;  for,  after  all,  besides  the  de- 
licious end  of  securing  perfect  cleanliness,  the  luxury  of  the 


224  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

bath  consists  in  its  entire  abandonment  to  the  sensuous  enjoy- 
ment of  absolute  rest  in  re-created  being.  All  pleasurable  senti- 
ments blend  in  the  delight  of  perfect  cleanliness,  vaporous 
languor,  gentle  somnolence,  dry  warmth,  revivifying  freshness, 
and  renewed  life  as  the  final  magic  touch.  The  whole  world  and 
his  wife  stands  aloof  for  a  while.  Dark  care  may  ever  sit 
behind  the  horseman  elsewhere,  but  he  does  not  join  one  in  a 
Turkish  or  a  Russian  bath,  at  least  for  an  hour  or  two,  by  which 
time  one  has  had  his  coffee  and  segar,  and  is  ready  to  meet  and 
defy  him.  Then,  why  should  we  not  have  skilled  shampooers  to 
make  perfect  this  great  boon  of  the  hath?  Why  not  send  for 
heathen  Turks  to  instruct  us,  and  willingly  pay  their  port-dues, 
and  let  them  shampoo  us  skillfully  and  crack  our  Christian 
joints,  even  to  the  backbones  of  those  who  like  it? 

One  improvement  we  should  recommend  in  the  baths  them- 
selves. It  is  that  to  which  we  referred  a  i\>w  pages  back,  in  con- 
nection with  the  statement  that  it  would  be  applicable  to  highly- 
appointed  dwellings.  According  to  our  judgment,  the  inhala- 
tion of  vapor  in  the  ordinary  Russian  bath  forms  no  part  of  its 
hygienic,  and  certainly  none  of  its  detersive  value,  and  often  has 
objectionable  features  for  the  special  object  in  view.  Yet  only 
in  tin  city  of  San  Francisco  did  we  ever  see  a  construction  for 
administering  the  vapor  bath,  such  as  to  admit  of  having  the 
head  free  of  vapor.  A  friend,  however,  informs  us  that  he  has 
seen  a  similar  one  in  Detroit.  The  appliance  that  we  saw  and 
used  in  San  Francisco  was  of  the  simplest  construction.  It  Con- 
sisted of  a  box  of  a  little  less  height  than  that  of  a  person  seated. 
This  is  vertical  on  its  sides  and  back,  and  closed  with  folding- 
doors  in  front,  which  slant  back  at  such  an  angle  as  to  leave, 
with  the  top  of  its  back,  just  space  enough  to  accommodate  the 
neck.  After  the  entrance  of  the  bather,  and  the  shutting  of  the 
folding-doors  when  he  is  seated,  the  rectangular  slit  thus  left 
open  at  the  top  of  the  box  is  closed  by  two  short  pieces  of  plank 


BATHING    AS   PRACTICED    IN    ANCIENT   AND   MODERN   TIMES.       225 

cut  out  semicircularly  at  the  ends  so  as  to  close  around  the 
neck.  The  bath-attendant  then  inserts  a  towel  gently  around 
the  neck,  so  as  to  prevent  the  egress  there  of  the  vapor  from  the 
box,  and  the  bather  is  read}^  to  turn  on  the  vapor  from  a  faucet 
conveniently  placed  near  his  hand.  He  is  entirely  inclosed 
without  being  fastened  in  the  box.  There  he  can  sit  pleasurably 
for  half  an  hour,  adjusting  through  his  sensations  the  heat  of  the 
vapor,  and  feeling  the  condensed  cloud  trickle  down  in  great 
drops  from  his  person.  When  sated  with  the  enjoyment,  he 
summons  the  attendant  and  is  well  washed  off  under  a  properly- 
tempered  shower-bath,  is  rubbed  down,  packed  in  blankets,  and 
readily  falls  asleep  for  a  few  minutes,  awakening  wonderfully 
refreshed.  Thus  can  be  given  plain-vapor  or  medicated-vapor 
baths,  and  the  method  is  represented  by  an  appliance  which 
certainly  could  easily  be  added  to  bathing  facilities  of  private 
houses  of  the  highest  class. 

We  must  not,  in  the  interest  of  persons  who  have  never  seen 
one  of  our  American  Turkish  and  Russian  bathing  establish- 
ments, omit  some  description  of  them.  They  consist  of  various 
apartments  devoted  to  different  purposes.  In  the  reception-room 
the  visitor  commits  his  valuables  to  the  attendant  there  and  re- 
ceives a  check  for  them  in  return.  He  then  undresses  in  an  alcove 
devoted  to  his  exclusive  use,  and  curtained  from  the  apartment 
in  which  it  is  situated.  Emerging  thence,  with  a  towel  for  kilt, 
he  goes  to  the  hot  rooms,  which  are  generally  two,  sometimes 
three  in  number,  following  each  other  in  a  sequence  of  gradually 
increasing  temperature.  The  last  room  is  frequently  so  hot  that 
it  is  avoided  by  the  bather.  The  temperature  there  frequently 
reaches  200°  Fah.,  which  is  certainly  too  high  for  persons  liable 
to  congestion  of  the  lungs  or  those  predisposed  to  apoplexy*. 
Having  induced  a  profuse  perspiration,  by  subjecting  the  body 
to  a  high  temperature,  the  bather  now  puts  himself  into  the 
hands  of  the    shainpooer,  who    places    him   horizontally  on   a 

15 


226  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

marble  slab,  and  soaps  and  shampoos  him.  He  is  then  rinsed 
off  under  a  shower-bath,  and  may  incidentally  go  into  a  room 
densely  filled  with  hot  vapor,  immersion  in  which  forms  the 
chief  characteristic  of  the  Russian  bath.  Thence  some  persons 
who  are  swimmers  dash  into  the  swimming  pool,  which  among 
the  Romans  was  called  the  piscina,  or  fish-pond.  For  our  own 
part,  we  confess  that,  alt  hough  Loving  a  plunge  in  the  river  or 
the  sea .  t  lie  preliminaries  which  have  been  described  impart  to  us 
a  certain  agreeable  temporary  lassitude  averse  to  any  active  ex- 
ertion. Then,  too,  there  is  all  the  difference  in  the  world  be- 
tween the  suggestion  of  water  sparkling  in  sea  or  river,  and  that 
-ecu  in  the  dark  pool  of  a  bathing  establishment  illuminated  by 
faint  natural  or  artificial  light,  and  black  and  dreary-looking  as  in 
a  cave.  It  is  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  that  the  ordinary 
bath-attendant  is  most  annoying.  He  is  certain  that  you  need  a 
plunge;  it  will  do  }'OU  good.  But  we  resemble  an  old  Quaker 
friend  of  ours,  who  once  said  in  our  presence  that  he  generally 
knew  what  he  liked.  Both  causes  mentioned  doubtless  conspire 
to  make  us  omit  the  plunge  and  betake  ourselves  to  the  crypt 
where  one  is  duly  rubbed  down  until  a  pleasant  glow  is  gener- 
ated all  over  the  body.  Thence  one  proceeds  to  a  moderately 
warm  apartment,  where,  reclined  on  an  easy  lounge,  he  sips  his 
coffee  and  smokes  a  segar,  if  he  is  wise,  and  after  that  dresses 
himself  quietly,  feeling,  as  he  leaves  the  portals  of  the  bath,  that 
he  has  not  left  hope  behind  except  to  come  back  again,  and 
ready  to  meet  the  world  and  find  life  worth  living. 

Besides  the  effect  produced  upon  the  skin,  and  through  it 
upon  the  nervous  system  and  general  organization,  by  water 
simply  as  a  vehicle  of  temperature  (cold  water  causing  combus- 
tion of  fatt}-  tissue  and  lessening  the  weight,  and  hot  air  and 
vapor  promoting  perspiration  and  lessening  the  weight),  there 
are  other  effects  due  to  its  application  to  the  surface  of  the 
bod}r.       The  force  of  the  impact  of  water  falling  on  the  skin  has 


BATHING    AS   PRACTICED   IN    ANCIENT    AND   MODERN    TIMES.      227 

a  stimulating  effect  upon  the  general  nervous  system.  Water, 
too,  as  well  as  other  fluids,  can  enter  the  system  through  the 
skin,  that  integument  being  slightly  hygroscopic  ;  that  is,  having 
an  affinity  to  moisture.  It  is  true  that  the  capacity  of  the  heal!  hy 
skin  to  absorb  moisture  is  small,  owing  to  the  existence  of  its 
horny  layer.  But  that  the  capacity  does  exist  in  some  measure 
has  been  amply  proved.  Any  one  will  observe  that,  after  lying 
in  a  warm  bath  for  some  time,  the  nails  become  pliant  and  the 
skin  macerated,  so  to  speak,  to  a  certain  degree.  It  is  especially 
owing  to  this  belief  that  milk  baths  have  sometimes  been  taken, 
with  a  view  of  imparting  softness  and  beauty  to  the  skin.  We 
have  heard  of  such  Sybaritic  practice  in  one  case  latebv,  but  the 
most  famous  instance  on  record  is  that  of  a  French  lath',  who, 
about  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution,  indulged  in  a  daily 
milk  bath,  and  afterward  had  the  milk  sold.  Perhaps  that  was 
her  way  of  looking  at  Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity,  or  as  Mr. 
Jefferson  jokingly  phrases  the  sentiment  in  his  autobiography, 
when  speaking  of  theatrical  squabbles  in  his  early  youth,  "  Let's 
all  be  equal,  and  I'll  be  king,"  for  the  lady  to  whom  we  have 
alluded  certainly  had  the  cream  of  the  thing. 

That  the  skin  does  not  readily  absorb  fluids  is  proved  by  an 
electrical  experiment  that  a  friend  of  ours  lately  tried.  It  is 
well  known  that  fluids  in  closed  tubes  move  in  correspondence 
with  the  galvanic  current,  and  some  persons  have  gone  so  far  as 
to  say  that  they  have  proved  that  fluids  can  be  driven  by  this 
instrumentality  through  the  bocty.  It  was  to  test  the  truth  of 
this  statement  that  our  friend  took  starch  and  iodine,  which  in 
moist  contact  produce  a  beautiful  blue  tint,  and  placing  them, 
properly  dissolved,  on  opposite  sides  of  the  hand,  satisfied  him- 
self that,  if  there  were  any  penetration  of  the  skin  b}'  the  sub- 
stances, such  portions  as  entered  must  become  at  once  absorbed, 
for  on  neither  side  of  the  hand  was  the  well-known  blue  tint 
produced  which  follows  the  contact  of  starch  and  iodine.     At 


228  BEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

the  same  time,  it  must  not  be  inferred  that  such  a  fluid  as  warm 
milk  would  unt  penetrate  to  a  considerable  amount  over  so  large 
a  surface  as  that  afforded  by  the  body,  for*  in  fact,  drink  can  be 
imbibed  and  thirst  quenched  or  alleviated  by  this  process,  and 
milk  or  other  liquid  food  be  sufficiently  absorbed  to  nourish 
the  hotly.  All  that  we  s:iy  is,  that  the  skin,  on  account  of  the 
presence  of  its  horny  layer,  is  not  highly  absorbent.  The 
mucous  membrane,  on  the  contrary,  is  highly  absorbent,  as 
many  facts  in  medicine  and  surgery  attest. 

It  thus  becomes  apparent  why  medicated  baths,  such  as 
sulphur,  may  prove  beneficial  in  certain  cutaneous  diseases,  and 
also  why  it  is  highly  probable  tliat  for  skin  impoverishment,  in 
consequence  of  disease  or  old  age,  a  bath  of  milk  or  other  emol- 
lient fluid  would  have  a  renovating  effect  upon  it.  Shrunken, 
wrinkled  skin  indicates  a  condition  of  progressive  atrophy, 
represented  otherwise  by  a  number  of  associated  changes  in  its 
structure,  in  sum  representing  lowered  vitality  in  the  whole 
body.  These  associated  changes  are  lessened  vascular  and 
nerve  supply,  and  consequent  absorption  of  parts,  particularly 
of  the  fatty  portions  of  the  subcutaneous  connective-tissue. 

Sand  baths,  readily  obtainable  on  the  sea-shore,  and  from 
time  immemorial  indulged  in  by  children  for  sport,  are  very 
beneficial  for  rheumatism  and  some  other  ailments.  As,  how- 
ever, sand  consists  chiefly  of  pellicles  of  silex  or  flint,  in- 
cluding comparatively  little  vegetable  matter,  the  benefit  occa- 
sionally received  from  a  sand  bath  must  be  chiefly  derived  from 
it-  constituting  a  slightly  moist  pack,  excluding  the  air,  the 
effect  of  which  is  to  promote  copious  exudation  from  the  skin. 
Wet  soils,  on  the  contrary,  found  near  mineral  springs,  some- 
times efficacious  in  the  treatment  of  cutaneous  disorders,  are, 
of  course,  composed  in  varying  proportions  of  vegetable  and 
mineral  substances  more  or  less  in  solution.  These,  in  sum, 
represent  chemical  combinations  that  are  frequently  beneficial  to 


BATHING    AS   PRACTICED   IN    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN    TIMES.      229 

the  skin  when  diseased.  In  the  legend  of  the  r.-itlier  m \1  IiwmI 
Prince  Bladud,  who  is  supposed  to  have  first  appreciated  the 
medicinal  virtues  of  the  mineral  springs'  of  Bath,  England, 
although,  according  to  the  legend,  it  was  his  wallowing  swine 
that  first  expressed  their  approval  of  the  spot,  we  find  evidence 
that,  at  a  very  remote  period,  the  curative  qualities  of  moist 
earth  were  known.  The  belief  has,  indeed,  been  traditional,  with 
varying  degrees  of  information,  from  that  of  medical  and  surgical 
knowledge  of  the  antiseptic  adaptability  of  clay  in  treating 
certain  malignant  conditions,  down  to  that  which  goes  no  further 
than  the  boy's  record  of  the  fact  that  moist  clay  relieves  the 
inflammation  from  a  wasp's  sting.  We  ourselves  have  always 
remained  under  the  strong  impression  that  Christ,  in  anointing 
the  blind  man's  eyes  with  moistened  clay,  did  not  perform  a 
meaningless  ceremony,  but  thereby  recognized  the  existence  of 
an  inherent  curative  virtue,  perhaps  perfectly  well  known  to  the 
Jews. 

A  very  pleasant,  and,  on  occasions,  useful  electric  bath  can 
be  self-administered  by  anj'  one  who  possesses  a  small  faradaic 
battery,  which  costs  only  five  or  six  dollars.  Lying  immersed 
in  a  warm  bath,  the  battery -poles  passed  over  the  edge  of  the 
tub,  the  bather  can  apply  them  with  ease  to  an}'  portion  of  the 
body.  Constipation  is  readily  relieved  b}^  this  process,  the  best 
mode  of  administering  the  current  for  the  purpose  being  to  keep 
one  sponge-covered  pole  stationary  on  the  body,  while  the  other 
is  passed  over  the  belly  in  a  curve  beginning  on  the  right,  then 
going  upward,  then  across,  then  downward,  and  so  on  in  the 
same  manner,  thus  following  the  course  of  the  ascending  and 
descending  colon. 

"Written  records  speak  of  bathing  among  various  peoples  of 
antiquity, — Egyptians,  Hindoos,  Persians,  Jews,  Greeks,  and 
Romans.  Those  relating  to  the  practice  among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  are  naturally  the  fullest,  and,  of  these,  those  concerning 


230  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

the  Romans  transcend  in  importance  those  concerning  the 
Greeks,  the  difference  between  them,  as  representing  the  high 
development  of  the  practice,  being  probably  otherwise  well 
indicated  by  the  fact  of  the  absence  of  ruins  of  great  Greek 
bathing  establishments,  contrasted  with  that  of  the  existence  of 
Roman  buildings  for  the  same  purpose,  whose  magnificent  ruins 
st  the  prodigality  of  wealth  and  art  lavished  on  them  for  the 
sake  of  the  healthfulness,  enjoj'ment,  and  refinement  of  bathing. 
In  the  early  times  of  Rome,  when  she  was  at  the  zenith  of 
her  military  glory,  and  art  and  refinement  of  all  sorts  were  un- 
developed, of  course  bathing  mostly  took  place  in  open  streams, 
or  in  the  ocean.  Upon  the  basis  of  this  fact  we  find  Shakespeare 
representing  Csesar  as  swimming  with  Cassius  in  the  Tiber,  and 
crying  out  to  him,"  Help  me,  Cassius, or  I  sink."  Two  hundred 
years,  however,  before  his  time  there  were  swimming-pools  in 
Rome.  Claudius. — not  the  Emperor  Claudius,  who  lived  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  and  finished  the  two  most  splendid 
aqueducts  of  Rome,  begun  b}r  Caligula;  but  the  censor,  Appius 
Claudius,  who  was  born  three  hundred  years  before  the  emperor 
— constructed  the  first  aqueduct  leading  into  Rome,  although  the 
one  built  forty  years  afterward  was  always  known  as  the  old 
aqueduct.  This  was  what  led  immediately  to  the  establishment 
in  Rome  of  the  piscinae,  literally  fish-ponds,  but  technically  cold- 
water  swimming-pools. 

Public  bathing  establishments  sprang  up  in  Rome  immedi- 
ately upon  tin-  introduction  by  Claudius  of  water  into  the  eit\r 
from  Prseneste.  They  were,  however,  during  the  Republic,  com- 
paratively poor  establishments,  called  simply  balnea1,  or  baths. 
It  was  not  until  the  time  of  the  Empire  that  the  institution  of 
the  bath  flourished.  The  baths  then  became  thermae,  or  warm 
baths,  although  they  contained  facilities  for  both  cold  and  warm 
bathing,  and  some  persons  frequented  them  for  cold  bathing 
alone.     There  were  also  private  baths,  and  great  patricians  had 


BATHING    AS   PRACTICED    IN    ANCIENT    AND   MODERN    TIMES.      2ol 

them  attached  to  their  villas.  Not  Rome  alone,  but  other  Italian 
cities,  adopted  the  institution.  Successive  emperors  vied  with 
each  other  in  providing  them  for  the  people,  erecting  for  the 
purpose  buildings  of  stupendous  size.  These  sometimes  con- 
tained halls  supported  by  magnificent  columns,  lined  with 
precious  marbles,  and  adorned  with  line  mosaics  and  statuary. 
Theatres,  libraries,  and  places  for  athletic  sports  were  sometimes 
included  in  the  same  pile  that  afforded  beautiful  colonnades  open 
to  interior  blooming  courts,  provided  with  seats,  where  philoso- 
phers or  men  of  affairs  could  rest  or  stroll  about  at  pleasure. 

In  -the  Roman  bath  of  the  most  sumptuous  kind  there  was 
the  apartment  in  which  the  bather  disrobed  ;  the  tepid  apart- 
ment, that  in  which  the  body  was  sprinkled  to  remove  perspira- 
tion ;  the  apartment  in  which  hot-air  and  hot-vapor  baths  could 
be  taken,  where  there  was  a. warm  bath  ;  and  the  cool  apartment, 
in  which  was  the  swimming-pool.  This  pool,  in  the  baths  of 
Diocletian,  was  200  feet  in  length  and  100  in  width.  The  Mo- 
hammedans long  subsequently  adopted  this  kind  of  bath  from  the 
Romans,  and  through  them  it  spread  into  Spain  and  various 
other  countries.  The  reader  may  remember  that,  in  the  "  Arabian 
Nights,"  Aladdin  first  sees  the  Princess  Balroubadour  as  she 
goes  attended  to  the  bath. 

The  process  of  bathing  in  the  Roman  thermse  was  like  that 
with  which  we  are  acquainted  in  our  similar  baths,  except,  as 
already  mentioned,  that  some  persons  took  only  the  cold  bath  of 
the  swimming-pool.  The  Romans,  however,  did  not  possess 
soap,  and  used  the  strigil,  or  sharp  scraper  of  bone,  ivory,  or 
metal,  for  the  same  purpose  for  which  we  use  the  much  better 
adapted  flesh-brush  or  flesh-glove.  As  compared  with  us,  how- 
ever, the}-  more  than  made  up  for  these  disadvantages  by  the 
frequency  of  their  bathing.  The  most  magnificent  of  their  baths 
were  those  of  Agrippa,  Nero,  Titus  Domitian,  Commodus,  Cara- 
calla,  Diocletian,  and  Constantine. 


232  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL   BEAUTT. 

If  demagogiam  in  Rome  sometimes  degraded  the  people 
by  giving  them  magnificent  bribes  for  their  liberty,  in  the  case 
of  the  baths  good  certainly  came  out  of  evil.  Demagogueism  is 
not  yet  dead  in  the  world,  but  unselfish  generosity  was  never  so 

much  alive  to  the  good  of  the  people  as  in  the  present  era.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  say  thai  it  could  not  have  a  worthier  task  than 
the  institution  of  public  baths  for  all  seasons  of  the  year,  scat- 
tered at  proper  intervals  over  the  area  of  our  great  cities, — such 
baths  as  London  and  even  little  Glasgow  can  now  boast,  in  con- 
nection with  which  the  best  laundry  facilities  can  be  procured 
for  a  trifle  by  the  poorest  women.  A  philanthropist  who  should, 
at  the  present  stage  of  our  civilization,  supply  this  need  of 
cleanliness,  and  additionally,  in  the  form  involving  the  health- 
ful exercise  of  swimming,  would  do  more  for  the  souls  of  the 
people  than  his  expenditure  of  an  equal  amount  for  any  other 
good  purpose  could  accomplish.  The  gift  would  yield  in  return 
wide-spread  increase  of  health  and  comfort,  and  afford  legiti- 
mate vent  to  pent-up  nervous  energies,  which,  in  the  life  of  a 
large  city,  are  somewhere  always  verging  upon  dangerous 
explosion. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  CLEANSING   OF   THE   FACE. 

IT  may,  without  due  reflection,  seem  to  some  persons  prepos- 
terous that  any  one  should  need  instructions  as  to  the  care 
of  the  face.  But  experience  shows  that  there  is  nothing  which 
has  not  escaped  the  observation  or  the  opportunities  of  learning 
of  some  people.  In  ancient  Rome  people  were  taught  to  chew 
and  otherwise  eat  properly, — a  line  of  instruction  which  would 
not  be  amiss  at  present,  if  many  only  knew  their  deficiency  in 
the  matter.  We  have  seen  in  the  course  of  our  travels  instances 
of  disgusting  eating,  the  most  egregious  of  which  was  at  a 
respectable  hotel,  where  a  man,  with  a  bib  made  out  of  his  nap- 
kin, dripped  soup  over  it  from  the  eaves  of  a  huge  un trimmed 
moustache,  which  he  occasionally  combed  out  with  his  fork.  We 
occasionally  see  girls,  tricked  out  in  the  height  of  the  fashion, 
affectedly  laugh  so  as  to  let  one  see  down  their  throats.  Yet 
eating  and  laughing  are  two  natural  movements  in  which  super- 
ficial observers  suppose  that  no  human  being  can  possibly  need 
instruction. 

In  the  first  place,  in  regard  to  the  proper  care  of  the  face, 
it  is  to  be  observed  that  no  beauty  of  it  can  be  based  upon  any- 
thing short  of  the  healthfulness  of  its  skin,  and  that  no  health- 
fulness  of  its  skin  can  be  secured  by  face-powders  or  face-lotions, 
or  anything  short  of  the  detersive  effects  of  good  soap  and  water 
and  mild  friction.  Simple,  however,  as  this  statement  is,  it  needs 
amplification  to  make  sure  of  no  misconception  arising  from  it. 
If  one  were  to  wash  the  face  and  hands  in  very  warm  or  in  hot 
water,  and  then  expose  them  to  cold  air,  both  would  become  red, 
roughened,  chapped,  and  coarse,  as  we  see  every  da}-,  in  an  exag- 
gerated form,  in  the  effects  produced  on  the  hands  of  servant- 

(233) 


234  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AM)   PERSONAL    BEAUT7. 

girls  who  wash  outdoors  with  a  bucketful  of  steaming-hot  water, 
with  the  temperature  of  the  air  at  or  below  the  freezing-point. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  the  temperature  of  the  room  in  which  the 
face  and  hands  are  to  be  washed  is  high,  and  there  is  to  be  no 
exposure  of  them  for  some  time  to  the  cold  air,  one  can  wash 
them  with  impunity  in  warm  or  even  in  hot  water.  With  im- 
punity, we  Bay,  but  not  preferably,  for  very  warm  or  hot  water 
has  not  upon  the  skin  the  desirable  tonic  effect  of  cool  water, 
which  tends,  through  its  action  upon  the  nerves  and  capillaries, 
to  improve  it  in  health  and  beautify  it. 

When  we  wish  to  remove  from  the  skin  some  mass  of  foreign 
matter,  we  use  warm  or  hot  water,  but  why  ?  Not  because  they 
are  as  good  as  cold  water  for  the  health  of  the  skin,  but  because 
the  foreign  matter  is  more  soluble  in  warm  or  hot  water  than  in 
cool ;  because,  under  the  influence  of  heat,  the  interstices  of  the 
skin  where  the  matter  has  securest  lodgment  are  expanded  ;  and 
because  the  skin  itself,  being  more  macerated  by  warm  than  by 
cool  water,  readily  yields  up  some  of  the  foreign  matter  with 
the  albumen  of  the  skin  itseif.  In  a  word,  our  object  is  different, 
when  we  ordinarily  wash,  from  our  object  when  we  are  trying 
to  get  rid  of  a  mass  of  adherent  foreign  matter.  The  con- 
ditions being  different,  the  object  becomes  different,  and,  corre- 
spondingly, the  means  to  be  adopted. 

It  is  only  by  the  use  of  cool  water  that  we  increase  the 
health  and  beauty  of  the  skin.  We  use  warm  water  in  the  bath, 
but  we  should  not  prefer  it  but  for  the  fact  that  we  should  be 
chilled  by  the  use  of  cool  water  in  a  bath  of  some  duration.  If 
the  circumstances  were  those  of  nature,  enabling  us  to  take  exer- 
cise in  the  bath,  if  we  could  swim  there,  we  should  find  the  cool 
bath  even  more  agreeable  than  the  warm, — more  tonic,  and  re- 
freshing. The  adoption  of  warm  water  instead  of  cool  for  the 
ordinary  bath  is  a  very  judicious  recognition  of  the  fact  of  the 
difference  between  ability  and  non-ability  to  keep  up  the  circula- 


THE   CLEANSING    OF    THE   FACE.  235 

tion  of  the  blood  by  exercise.  The  best  bath,  therefore,  that 
can  be  taken  under  the  conditions  of  house-bathing  is  one  of 

tepid  water,  followed  by  a  shower-bath  of  the  same  temperature, 
gradually  cooled  down  to  one  giving  a  feeling  of  decided  cold- 
ness, followed  immediately  by  a  brisk  rubbing  down  with  towels. 
By  this  means  the  tonic  effect  of  a  river-bath,  without  the  exer- 
cise, is  obtained  with  even  a  greater  detersive  effect.  There  is, 
however,  in  the  exhilarating  influence  of  a  bath,  accompanied  by 
exercise  in  the  open  air,  one  tonic  effect  upon  the  sj^stem  which 
is  necessarily  lost  indoors. 

Now,  the  same  considerations  that  cause  us  to  adopt  for  a 
bath,  when  no  exercise  is  taken,  a  certain  degree  of  warmth,  to 
compensate  for  the  absence  of  exercise,  do  not  apply  at  all  to 
surfaces  so  small  as  those  represented  by  the  face  and  hands. 
Hence,  for  the  face  and  hands  we  ma}7  always  avail  ourselves  of 
the  tonicity  of  cool  water  on  the  skin  for  promoting  their  health 
and  beauty.  The  immediate  effect,  especially  in  winter  (when 
the  skin  as  well  as  the  whole  body  has  its  winter  temperament), 
of  applying  warm  or  hot  water  to  the  skin,  is  to  engorge  the 
capillaries  and  make  the  parts  turgid.  The  blood  being  invited, 
b}r  the  expansion  of  the  capillaries  through  heat,  to  flow  to  the 
surface,  without  any  correspondent  reflex  tendency  being  given 
to  it,  they  for  some  time  afterward  remain  relaxed,  distended, 
and  engorged  with  blood.  Observe  the  very  different  action  of 
cool  water,  and  it  will  be  perceived  why  its  application  should 
be  followed  by  a  positively  tonic  effect.  The  blood  moves  rapidly 
in  two  directions,  awa}-  from  and  toward  the  surface.  In  this 
case,  therefore,  while  the  parts  have  not  been  temporarilj7  altered, 
their  functions  have  been  agreeably  stimulated  ;  whereas  in  the 
other  case  the  parts  have  been  temporarily  altered,  and  their 
functions  temporaril}-  disturbed.  It  is  readily  seen  that  from 
one  set  of  conditions  the  effect  must  be  tonic,  and  from  the  other 
depressant. 


236  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

There  can,  therefore,  be  no  question  that  the  proper  tem- 
perature of  water  with  which  to  wash  the  face  and  hands,  if  one 
desires  to  have  a  healthy  and  handsome  complexion,  is  a  de- 
cidedly cool  one.  The  degree  of  coolness  is  to  be  determined 
by  each  one's  individual  judgment  guided  by  the  feelings.  Water 
so  cold  as  to  be  painful  is  too  cold  for  the  purpose  of  washing 
the  face  and  hands,  but  the  determination  of  what  is  too  cold 
will  depend  upon  individual  differences, — health,  habit,  sensitive- 
ness of  skin.  Again,  if  water  is  too  cold,  it  makes  one  hasten 
to  finish  the  operation,  which,  at  its  longest,  a  short  one,  never- 
theless requires  thoroughness  in  its  performance. 

No  face-powders,  lotions,  or  any  cosmetic  preparations  can 
impart  beauty  to  the  complexion  ;  they  can  merely  cover  and 
leave  some  film  upon  it.  Many  such  things  fill  up  the  pores  and 
give  a  pasty  look  to  the  skin,  leaving  their  effects  in  a  disorgan- 
ized tissue.  Not  so  with  the  cosmetic  effect  of  water,  soap,  and 
air,  combined  with  a  brisk  toweling  with  a  moderately  soft  towel ; 
not  hard,  nor  soft,  nor  stiff,  nor  thin,  but  with  ample  absorbent 
quality  and  a  surface  that  gives  by  friction  neither  the  effect  of 
a  rasping  nor  of  a  smooth  surface.  Water  and  soap  cleanse,  the 
oxygen  of  the  air  gives  life  to  the  skin.  One  who  will  not  let 
pass  from  the  face  what  nature  declares  should  go,  and  prevents 
entrance  to  that  which  nature  declares  should  have  free  access, 
presumes  to  teach  the  wise  mother  of  mankind  what  is  best  for 
her  own  children. 

There  is  a  belief  among  women,  wdiether  prevalent  enough 
to  be  considered  a  popular  one  we  do  not  know,  that  soap  is  not 
good  for  the  complexion.  This  is  based  upon  as  sound  reason- 
ing, if  it  has  any  reasoning  at  all  back  of  it,  as  is  the  belief  of 
persons  that  homoeopathic  treatment  is  the  best  for  children  and 
other  treatment  for  adults.  The  skin  does  not  cease  to  be  the 
same  on  the  trunk  of  the  bod}',  as  it  is  when  the  skin  of  the  face. 
Exactly  what  is  beneficial  for  the  skin  elsewhere  is  beneficial  for 


THE   CLEANSING    OF   THE   FACE.  237 

the  skin  of  the  face.  From  the  fact  of  the  greater  exposure  of 
the  skin  of  the  face,  it  is,  even  when  most  carefully  protected  from 
air  and  light,  not  so  delicate  as  the  skin  of  some  other  parts  of 
the  body.  Whether  or  not,  therefore,  it  is  proper  to  wash  the 
faee  with  soap  depends  entirely  upon  what  kind  of  soap  is  pro- 
curable with  which  to  wash  it.  Coarse  soaps  are  undoubtedly 
injurious  to  the  skin  anywhere.  But  supposing  that  we  are 
speaking  of  toilet-soaps  of  the  most  elegant  kind,  or  merely  of 
soaps  of  good  constituents,  then  nothing  is  so  beneficial  to  the 
complexion  as  washing  the  face  with  such  soaps.  An  excellent 
variety  is  Lubin's  almond-soap,  the  oil  of  almond  itself  having  a 
peculiarly  happ3r,  emollient  effect  upon  the  skin. 

Choose  soft  water,  or  at  least  avoid  very  hard  water,  and 
then  wash  the  face  as  follows:  After  soaping  the  hands,  pass 
them  gently  over  the  face,  well  up,  with  the  finger-tips  upon  the 
temples  and  with  the  thumbs  under  the  chin.  Then  bending 
over  the  basin,  wash  the  face  copiously  with  water,  going  over  it 
in  the  round  just  described.  Bending  over  the  basin,  with  the 
palms  of  the  hands  placed  on  the  cheeks,  it  will  be  found  that  the 
thumbs  are  in  the  position  most  favorably  placed  for  running 
them  back  of  and  in  the  interstices  generally  of  the  ears.  Use 
them,  then,  thus,  at  the»  conclusion  of  canying  every  double- 
handful  of  water  to  the  face,  first  simultaneous!}'  back  of  both 
ears,  and  then  around  the  interior  of  the  ears.  While  this  opera- 
tion is  proceeding,  it  will  be  perceived  that  there  are  two  parts 
of  the  ear  which  the  thumbs  are  not  so  well  adapted  to  search  as 
are  the  tips  of  the  fore-fingers.  These  are  the  opening  into 
the  ear,  and  the  inner  part  of  the  fold  at- the  top  of  the  ear. 
These  parts,  therefore,  should  be  washed  by  the  insertion  of  the 
wet  tip  of  the  fore-finger,  revolving  it  gently  in  the  opening,  and 
running  it  carefully  around  inside  of  the  fold  of  the  upper  part 
of  the  ear.  A  Turkish-toweling  wash-rag  serves  well  for  washing 
the  ears  and  back  of  the  neck.     Drv  the  face  without  violence 


238  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

from  undue  severity  of  friction,  aiming  merely  to  give  the  skin 
a  gentle  stimulus  incidentally  to  removing  the  effete  products 
ami  dirt  which  the  soap  and  water  have  dissolved. 

The  hand  is  the  best  instrument  for  washing  the  face, 
Guided  by  its  exquisite  sense  of  touch,  especially  in  the  tips  of 
the  fingers,  it  almost  instinctively  dues  its  duty  in  searching 
out  the  intricacies  of  the  numerous  folds  and  crevices  of  the 
face.  When,  however,  we  come  to  the  less  intricate  and  differ- 
ently placed  area  of  the  neck,  we  find  a  wash-rag  of  about 
eight  inches  square  (made  preferably  of  Turkish  toweling)  the 
most  convenient  thing  for  washing  it,  and,  if  desired,  the 
shoulders.  The  wash-rag  should  have  a  loop  on  one  corner  of  it, 
and,  after  being  rinsed  out,  be  hung  up  to  air  on  the  towel-horse 
or  rack  for  future  use. 

A  very  great  blemish  in  the  face  is  sometimes  to  be  observed 
as  a  black  speck,  which  can  be  squeezed  out  in  a  form  resem- 
bling a  little  white  worm.  Shakespeare  speaks  of  "  a  round  little 
worm  pricked  from  the  lazy  linger  of  a  maid."  Whether  he  meant 
this  kind  of  a  worm  or  not,  which  is  no  worm  at  all,  although  it 
contains  in  large  numbers  a  microscopic  parasite,  called  Demodex 
follicuIorum,we  do  not  know.  When  such  a  point  is  present  in 
an  otherwise  healthy  skin,  it  is  caused  l>3r  the  torpidity  of  the 
skin  in  that  particular  spot,  and  is  merely  a  blemish  which  can 
easily  be  removed  by  gently  pressing  a  watch-key  tube  placed 
over  the  spot,  when  the  mutter  will  exude.  When,  however,  the 
points  are  numerous  on  the  skin,  they  amount  to  a  disease, 
known  as  acne  punctata,  which  requires  medical  treatment,  both 
local  and  constitutional,  and  all  interference  with  the  spots  by 
squeezing  and  pressing  on  them  leads  to  inflaming  them  and  in- 
tensifying the  disease.  These  black  points  are  the  dirty  outer 
ends  of  plugs  of  sebaceous  matter  filling  up  sebaceous  ducts. 
Unless  they  are  derived,  as  they  are  when  the}-  amount  to  a  dis- 
ease, from  some  profound  constitutional  disturbance,  their  pres- 


THE   CLEANSING   OF   THE   FACE.  239 

ence  suggests  need  of  the  hygienic  habit  of  applying  good  soap 
and  water  with  gentle  friction  to  the  face,  and,  not  to  mince 
matters,  means  neglect  of  cleanliness. 

In  the  case*  of  the  presence  on  the  face  of  what  are  c:ill<-<l 
hirsuties,  or  development  of  hair  in  unusual,  and  therefore  un- 
sightly, positions,  there  is  one  sure  and  painless  remedy  which 
leaves  eventually  no  trace  of  its  application,  and  only  for 
a  short  time  any  trace  at  all.  This  is  the  application  of  the 
negative  current  of  the  galvanic  battery,  administered  with  a 
very  fine  needle.  The  needle,  being  exquisitely  fine,  does  not 
give  a  sensation  equal  to  that  of  the  prick  of  a  pin  ;  and  the 
very  moderate  galvanic  current  used  does  not  produce  much 
more.  The  papilla  of  the  hair,  which  later  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  describe,  is  destroyed  by  the  current,  making  it  impossi- 
ble for  the  hair  which  grew  from  it  ever  to  be  renewed.  What 
are  called  depilatories,  substances  for  removing  the  hair,  tem- 
porarily denude  the  skin  of  hair,  only  to  let  it  renew  itself  with 
a  more  vigorous  growth  than  before,  just  as  the  hair  is  affected 
by  shaving,  the  length  of  the  individual  hair  becoming  less,  but 
the  thickness  oreater. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   COSMETIC   CARE   AND   TREATMENT   OF    THE    FACE. 

THE  face  should  be  shielded  from  fierce,  inclement  blasts  of 
cold  air,  and  also  from  rays  of  a  sun  so  hot  as  to  blister. 
Excepting  fungi,  every  living  thing  requires  for  health  and 
beauty  profuse  heat,  air,  and  light,  and  the  skin  requires  these 
abundantly,  but  for  beauty  within  certain  fixed  bounds.  The 
complexion  of  an  old  sea-captain  is  healthy,  but  butternut  in 
color,  and  tough  as  to  integument ;  yet  one  may  have  quite  as 
healthy  a  skin  without  those  characteristics. 

In  the  case  of  any  blemish  on  the  face,  such  as  is  produced 
by  the  presence  of  inappropriate  hairs,  small  moles,  or  naevi, 
commonly  called  "  mother's  marks."  they  can  be  easily  removed 
without  scarring  by  means  of  the  electric  needle.  When  they 
there  amount  to  an  aneurism  by  anastomosis,  or  intricate 
blending  of  blood-vessels,  scarring  sometimes  following  their 
removal,  it  had  better  then  not  be  attempted.  Elsewhere,  even 
such  nsevi  ought  to  be  removed,  for,  if  injured,  they  often, 
with  increase  of  years,  form  an  ugly,  sloughing  sore.  On  the 
face,  nrevi,  if  small  and  superficial,  ought  to  be  removed  by  the 
electric  needle,  and  can  be,  without  the  result  of  scarring.  Mr. 
W.  Beatty,  of  London,  has  lately  claimed  great  success  in  their 
removal  by  the  application  of  arsenic.  The  preparation  em- 
ployed is  the  ordinary  liquor  arsenicalis  of  the  British  Phar- 
macopoeia. The  naevus  is  painted  with  it,  with  a  camel's  hair 
pencil,  every  night  and  morning,  until  it  ulcerates,  a  cure  being 
effected  in  from  three  to  five  weeks. 

Incidentally,  we  wish  to  impress  upon  the  reader  that  moles 
and  other  abnormal  skin  surfaces  sometimes  become  the  seat  of 
papilloma  which  may  degenerate  into  epithelioma, — a  malignant 
growth.     It  is,  therefore,  advisable  for  every  one  having  such  a 

16  (241) 


242  BEREDITT,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

growth  to  watch  it  carefully,  lest,  as  often  happens,  some  trifling 

injury  to  it  may  cause  serious  disease.  The  physician  is  the 
proper  person  to  whom  to  submit  the  case  for  treatment.  Often 
these  growths  need  immediate  extirpation,  which  is  quickly 
accomplished  by  the  electric  needle. 

Sunburn,  and  freckles,  if  not  of  long  standing,  are  quite 
amenable  to  treatment  with  tincture  of  benzoin  and  water, 
one  teaspoonful  of  the  tincture  to  a  cupful  of  cold  water. 
Carefully  avoiding  getting  the  mixture  into  the  eyes,  bathe  the 
parts  for  ten  minutes  morning  and  night.  Let  the  face  then 
become  almost  dry  after  bathing  it,  and  while  it  is  in  a  slightly 
moist  condition  dry  it  gently  with  a  piece  of  soft,  old  linen. 

A  good  preparation  for  the  removal  of  freckles  is  the  follow, 
ing  paste  : — 

Oxide  of  zinc, 3      drachms. 

Subiodide  of  bismuth, %    drachm. 

Dextrin, 2'4  drachms. 

Glycerin, 3 

Apply  the  mixture  at  night,  before  retiring,  and  remove  the 
residue  in  the  morning'  with  a  little  powdered  borax  and  sweet-oil. 
The  following  recipe  is  useful  for  chapped  lips  : — 

Quince-seed, 3    drachms. 

Water, ]4  pint. 

When  mixed,  boil  them  down  to  the  volume  of  \  pint, 
and  then  add  to  the  mixture  2  ounces  of  glycerin,  scenting  with 
2  or  3  drops  of  oil  of  roses. 

This  preparation  is  good,  not  only  for  chapped  and  cracked 
lips,  but  for  chapped  hands.  It  also  makes  a  very  good  dressing 
for  the  hair. 

The  following  is  a  convenient  preparation,  because  it  takes 
a  solid  form,  and  can  be  used  in  small  quantities,  as  needed: — 

French  gelatin, 120  grains. 

Glycerin, V-i  ounces. 

Water, %    ounce. 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT    OP   THE    FACE.  243 

To  prepare  it  for  molding  from  these  ingredients,  cut  the 
gelatin  up  into  little  bits,  in  a  wide-mouthed  vial,  and,  after 
adding  to  it  the  ^  fluidounce  of  water,  melt  the  mixture  in  a 
hot-water  bath  (the  receptacle  holding  the  mixture  placed  in 
another  receptacle  containing  the  water,  to  which  heat  is  applied;. 
When  the  mixture  is  melted,  add  the  glycerin,  previously  warmed. 
Then  shake  the  mixture  thoroughly  up,  add  to  it  a  drop  or  two 
of  oil  of  roses,  pour  it  into  molds,  and  put  it  away  in  a  cool 
place  until  it  sets.  When  removed  from  the  molds,  wrap  it  up 
in  paraffin-paper,  such  as  the  confectioners  use.  In  using  it,  first 
moisten  the  skin  with  water,  and  then  apply  it. 

We  have  indicated  from  the  first,  that  the  most  cosmetic 
things  in  the  world  for  the  skin  are  fresh,  cool  water,  bland  sonp, 
and  gentle  friction,  and  have  expressed  our  disapproval  of  arti- 
ficial modes  of  beautifying  the  complexion,  or,  rather,  not  of 
beautifying  it,  but  of  concealing  it  from  view.  We  have  care- 
fully pointed  out  that  a  wholesome,  handsome  complexion  can 
come  only  of  the  aggregated  effects  of  fresh  air,  exercise,  good 
food  and  clothing,  and  generally  good  habits  of  life.  At  the 
same  time  we  recognize  that  there  are  occasions  when  one  has 
need  of  suppressing  summarify  the  glistening  of  the  face  from  per- 
spiration, and  also  that,  do  what  we  will,  there  are  persons  who 
will  not  heed  our  words  of  wisdom.  Recognizing  these  facts, 
we  philosophicalfy  resign  ourselves  to  communicating  such 
information  as  to  safe  artificial  cosmetics  as  will  include  those 
of  which  the  reader  ma}r  desire  to  know. 

The  following,  it  will  be  seen,  is  composed  of  very  simple 
ingr-edients,  with  whose  nature  every  one  is  acquainted.  It  forms 
a  powder  for  the  face,  which,  if  desired  of  flesh  color,  can  be  so 
tinted  by  the  addition  of  3  grains  of  powdered  carmine  : — 

Prepared  chalk, 1    ounce. 

Carbonate  of  magnesia, J£       " 

Pulverized  chalk, '„ " 

Scent  with  rose.     For  flesh  color,  add  3  grains  of  carmine. 


^44       HEREDITY,  HEALTH,  AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

The  best  rouge  <>f  which  we  know,  for  fineness  of  quality 
and  for  facility  of  application,  is  that  contained  in  Madame 
Lowenberg's  pastilles  de  Florence.  The  pastilles  are  sometimes 
dissolved  in  rose-water,  and  the  lotion  thus  made  is  applied  to 

the  face.  This  mode  of  using  i  limn  produces  the  vulgar  eliect  of 
a  painted  face,  which,  it  need  hardly  be  said,  is  an  effect  far  from 
respectable.  To  avoid  this,  the  pastille  should  be  powdered,' a 
piece  of  fine  flannel  clipped  into  the  powder,  and  the  face  treated 
a-  follows,  a  la  franqais:  Pass  the  flannel  gently  over  the  fore- 
head and  temples,  avoiding  the  eyebrows,  then  over  the  nose, 
then  over  the  upper  lip,  then  over  the  chin  and  around  the 
mouth,  omitting  throughout  to  touch  the  cheeks  or  the  parts 
under  the  eyes,  the  two  points  which  do  not  need  re-inforcing 
with  color,  and,  if  so  re-inforced,  revealing  its  presence  as 
being  artificial.  After  having  delicately  passed  the  flannel  over 
the  parts  described,  pass  over  the  same  parts  a  soft  piece  of  fine 
linen.  The  etfect  will  be  far  more  natural  than  that  produced 
by  powdering  the  substance  on  the  skin,  or  smearing  it  dissolved 
over  the  skin,  both  which  modes  of  using  the  pastilles,  especially 
the  latter,  produce  a  highly  unnatural  appearance.  Flecks  of 
powder  that  may  have  fallen  on  the  eyebrows  or  the  eyelashes 
can  be  removed  with  a  piece  of  moistened  linen.  A  brunette  uses 
the  pastilles  of  a  creamy-pink  tint,  and  a  blonde  of  a  roseate 
one.  For  bare  neck  and  shoulders,  Lubin's  violet  powder  is  a 
famous  preparation. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE    HANDS. 

NEXT  to  the  face  the  hand  has,  of  all  the  members  of  the 
body,  the  most  expression.  And  like  all  things  capable 
in  action,  it  has  expression  even- in  repose.  Its  physiognomical 
traits,  so  to  speak,  may  or  may  not  have  been  developed  by 
education  ;  they  are  apparent  and  significant  without  it,  almost 
from  the  beginning,  from  nature  alone.  Its  range  of  expression 
in  repose  is  great,  and  its  range  of  expression  in  activity  ex- 
ceeds all  but  the  artist's  capacity  to  depict.  Sulby  used  to  say 
that,  such  was  the  beauty,  grace,  and  diversity  in  the  hands  of  a 
number  of  figures  in  a  certain  foreign  painting  representing  the 
calling  of  St.  Matthew,  he  had  for  his  own  instruction  re- 
peatedly copied  them. 

Of  two  pairs  of  hands  of  which  neither  has  ever  done  a 
stitch  of  work,  a  good  observer  recognizes  which  are  the  capa- 
ble ones.  And  when  we  say  work,  we  do  not  mean  mere  work, 
except  as  special  work  performed  in  conformity  with  the  par- 
ticular quality  of  brain.  If  any  one  choose  to  consider  the  fact 
significant  merely  as  to  relative  muscular  endowment,  let  him  ob- 
serve beyond,  that,  independent  of  the  capacity  of  brute  force 
exhibited  by  any  hand,  it  reveals  the  presence  of  a  more  or  less 
highly  gifted  nervous  organization.  One  does  not  find,  even  be- 
fore toil  has  marred  symmetry,  elegantly-shaped  hands  as  the 
possession  of  a  clodhopper,  nor  such  hands  as  his  as  the  posses- 
sion of  a  statesman.  Nature  is  harmonious  in  her  works,  from 
the  masses  of  her  sculpture,  down  to  the  pettiest  details. 
Pinched  nostrils  consort  with  imperfect  lungs,  as  full  nostrils 
consort  with  fine  breathing  apparatus.  Refinement  of  organiza- 
tion, without  special  muscularity,  is  conjoined  with  delicacv  and 

(245)  * 


246  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

refinement  of  traits  throughout,  and  so  also  the  opposite  con- 
ditions harmoniously  prevail.  Function  is  everywhere  repre- 
sented by  appropriate  Btructure,  down  to  the  big  mouth  of  the 
orator  and  the  big  Toot  of  the  pedestrian. 

The  nervous  system  dominates  the  man  ;  in  fact,  the  nervous 
system  is  the  man.  When  we  think  of  the  brain  as  dominating 
t  hat .  we  should  so  think  qualifiedly,  for  the  brain  is  a  part  of  that 
system.  If  over  there  were  a  sovereign  ruling  by  consent  of  the 
governed,  the  brain  is  thus  dependent  upon  its  subjects.  It 
rules  only  upon  the  condition,  not  that  the  body  politic,  but 
that  the  body  corporate,  shall  be  sound.  It  is  absolutely  de- 
pendent upon  the  well-being  of  its  subjects,  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest.  That  their  fundamental  constitution  shall  not  be 
violated,  that  their  labors  shall  not  be  excessive,  that  they  shall 
have,  under  law,  the  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness,  stun  themselves  up  in  the  ruler's  own  possibilit}'  of 
pleasurable  existence  and  life  itself.  The  brain,  without  its 
prime  minister,  the  spinal  cord  ;  without  its  cabinet  of  advisers, 
the  special  senses;  the  afferent  and  efferent  nerves,  without  in- 
tegrity,  may  make  the  brain  absolutely  helpless  to  have  a  com- 
mand executed,  or,  if  affected  in  some  lesser  degree,  unable  to  in- 
sure an}*  measure  of  sane  rule  such  as  we  recognize  as  emanating 
from  mind. 

Thus  the  brain  being  informed,  prompted,  or  rest  mined  by 
every  part  of  the  body,  and  in  turn  informing  and  controlling 
it.  dominant  only  upon  condition  of  its  own  dependence,  prime 
ruler  of  the  general  nervous  system  only  upon  condition  of  the 
soundness  of  both,  is  also  harmonized  with  reference  to  the 
mechanical  means  by  which  it  deals  with  outside  nature,  and 
chiefly  as  to  this  by  the  possession  of  the  hand,  :i  servant  char- 
acteristic of  and  by  which  we  may  judge  of  the  character  of  the 
master.  Through  the  possession  of  this,  the  chief  mechanical 
attendant  of  the  mind,  man  has  acquired  his  present  high  status 


THE    HANDS.  247 

in  the  animal  kingdom.  But  man  is  enormous]}-  differentiated 
as  to  different  races  and  individuals  within  the  confines  of  the 
species  to  which  he  belongs.  With  this  differentiation,  back  of 
which  is  infinite  differentiation  in  the  nervous  system,  lies 
corresponding  complexity  in  the  character  of  the.  hand  as 
well  as  of  other  parts  of  the  body.  The  hand,  as  the  principal 
mechanical  executor  of  the  will,  representing  the  individual 
brain,  the  chief  daily  agent  of  the  nervous  system  in  the 
struggle  for  existence,  has  originally,  and  by  education  comes 
to  have  still  more,  affinity  with  the  individual  brain,  and  to 
present  a  specific  type  of  expression  by  which  we  recognize  it  in 
repose  or  in  action  as  a  member  determined  in  character  by 
individual  organization. 

All  that  has  been  said  may  be  condensed  thus.  Struc- 
ture and  character  of  function  being  inseparable,  the  indi- 
vidual nervous  system  being  everywhere  harmonious,  and 
the  brain  being  the  chief  seat  of  the  system,  of  which  the 
hand  is  the  principal  mechanism,  the  hand  must  plrysically 
express  the  general  character  of  the  brain  as  representing 
character  of  mind ,  and  we  appeal  to  observation  to  show  that  it 
does.  This  member  of  the  body,  although  performing  the  most 
menial  offices,  takes  part  also  on  the  highest  state  occasions. 
Its  pudgy  contours  lie  on  the  mother's  breast,  characterless 
until  life  and  experience  have  given  to  it  traits  which  they  will 
with  time  surely  impart ;  but  thenceforward  it  has  its  life  to  live, 
and  its  joint  history  with  its  master  or  mistress  to  tell.  It  wars, 
or  points  the  moral,  turns  to  love,  or  in  the  wildest  flights  of 
oratory  rises  supremely  over  the  scene.  It  betrays  in  action  or 
repose  the  helpless  imbecility  of  a  torpid  mind,  and  equally 
reveals  the  mental  vigor  that  is  latent,  not  deployed.  That  it  is 
what  it  is,  the  most  active  physical  representative  of  the  per- 
sonality of  every  human  being,  entitles  it  to  a  regard  and  care 
which  it  amply  repays. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   COSMETIC   CARE   AND   TREATMENT    OF   THE    HANDS. 

THE  hand,  being  the  important  member  of  the  body  described 
in  the  las£  chapter,  every  rational  being  will  endeavor  to 
make  it  presentable.  The  first  of  negative  qualities  in  its  pre- 
sentability  will,  of  course,  be  cleanliness.  But,  unless  doomed 
by  toil  to  hardness  of  skin  and  stiffness  of  joints,  it  should  have 
also  the  positive  virtues  of  gently  pronounced  muscularity  and 
suppleness,  as  thus  best  adapted  to  the  large  range  of  duty 
which  fitness  for  the  plastic  and  mechanical  capacity  of  mankind 
demands.  And  not  less  are  these  attributes  of  the  hand  aestheti- 
cally than  they  are  usefully  requisite  to  its  excellence.  Its  dis- 
tinctive attributes,  of  usefulness  and  beauty,  stand  on  an  equal, 
although  on  a  different,  footing.  Beauty  in  it  is  conditioned 
upon  its  appearance  of  serviceableness ;  a  meagre,  undeveloped 
hand  being  not  more  surely  incapable  of  fine  action  than  of 
presenting  any  appearance  of  capacity.  Such  a  hand  gives  dis- 
satisfaction to  the  mind  from  perception  of  deficiency,  which  is, 
in  a  sense,  a  deformity.  A  foot  that  cannot  walk,  a  hand  that 
cannot  act,  is  a  defect,  not  only  from  the  point  of  view  of  use- 
fulness, but  from  that  of  beauty.  Aurora,  although  a  goddess, 
the  gracious,  the  glorious,  and  refined,  the  rosy-fingered  Daughter 
of  the  Dawn,  does  not  scorn  deftly  to  draw  aside  the  sable  cur- 
tains of  the  night. 

It  is  universally  agreed  that  the  handsome  hand  has  tapering 
fingers,  and  nails  of  the  form  called  almond-shaped.  "We  do  not 
remember  ever  to  have  seen  the  fingers  too  tapering  to  be  grace- 
ful, but  the  almond-shape  of  the  nail  is  occasional!}7  found  in 
excess.  This  term,  almond-shape,  refers  to  the  shape  as  looked 
down  upon  from  immediately  above  the  nail.     Referring  to  the 

(249) 


250  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

true  shape  of  the  nail,  as  Been  from  another  point  of  view,  side- 
wise,  it  should  curve  slightly  from  side  to  side,  but  scarcely 
perceptibly  from  front  to  rear.  When  it  curves  markedly  from 
root  to  tip  it  becomes  extremely  unsightly,  ami  this  defecl  may 
reach  a  point  in  which  it  amounts  to  a  disease,  which  will  he 
described  in  the  chapter  on  the  subject  of  the  nails.  Reaching 
that  degree  of  malformation,  it  presents  the  appearance  of  a 
modified  talon.  If  beyond  the  smallest  degree  it  curves  from 
root  to  tip,  that  formation  represents  a  defect,  and  the  nails 
should  he  kept  most  carefully  pared  to  avoid  exaggerating  its 
appearance. 

The  paper-nail  is  caused  by  a  congenital  defect  in  the 
nutrition  of  the  nail-suhstance.  When  such  nails  occur  they 
should  he  carefully  trimmed  down  to  the  most  restricted  dimen- 
sions, for  when  allowed  to  grow,  as  we  have  seen  them,  with  the 
corners  appearing  well  above  the  end  of  the  finger,  they  are  not 
only  unsightly,  but  are  liahle  to  be  painfully  torn.  In  such  cases 
the  advice  of  a  physician  should  he  taken,  Avith  the  hope  that 
some  palliation  of  the  disease  may  he  effected,  and  the  nail  he 
made  to  assume  a  more  serviceahle  and  more  sightly  condition. 

As  we  intend  to  devote  a  separate  chapter  to  a  description 
of  the  structure  and  growth  of  the  nail,  which  will,  of  course, 
apply  equall}'  to  the  nails  of  the  hands  and  the  feet,  we  shall  not 
here  enter  more  deeply  into  the  suhjeet  than  to  describe  in 
general  terms  the  treatment  which  the  nails,  as  the  most  distin- 
guished portion  of  the  hand,  require  to  insure  their  present  ability. 
Be  the  shape  of  the  hand  and  the  nails  never  so  handsome,  if  a 
person  is  not  especially  fastidious  as  to  the  nicety  of  the  latter, 
the  hand  loses  its  social  position,  and  damages  its  owner's  repu- 
tation for  keeping  good  company  ;  whereas,  on  the  contrary,  be 
the  hand  never  so  homely,  if  it  he  cared  for,  the  fact  will  be 
evident,  and  it  will  be  recognized  as  the  associate  of  a  gentleman 
or  gentlewoman. 


THE   COSMETIC    CAKE   AND   TREATMENT    OF    THE    HANDS.         251 

It  is  by  constant,  assiduous,  not  intermittent,  attention  to 
the  hand  that  it  is  kept  in  proper  order.  A  little  box  of  mani- 
cure instruments  aid  the  process,  hut  are  merely  conveniences 
with  which  one  can  dispense.  For  the  regular  routine  of  the 
toilette  of  the  hands,  one  should,  in  washing  them,  never  fail  to 
press  gently  back  with  the  towel,  as  they  are  being  wiped,  the 
delicate  selvedge-like  edge-around  the  root  of  the  nail.  There 
are  little  ivory,  spade-shaped  instruments  that  are  purchasable 
for  this  purpose,  which  come  in  all  manicure  boxes.  The 
effect  of  the  nail  is  wonderfully  enhanced  by  the  appearance 
of  the  lunula,  or  little  whitish  half-moon  at  its  base.  When  the 
selvedge-edge  is  pressed  back,  it  reveals  this  pretty  feature  of 
the  part.  The  edge  of  the  skin,  being  pressed  back  when  the 
hands  are  damp,  grows  symmetrically,  and  makes  a  delicate  set- 
ting for  the  nail.  Neglected,  the  nail  in  growing  becomes  laden 
with  some  of  the  surrounding  skin,  covered  with  whose  flakes  it 
presents  a  most  unsightly  appearance  as  it  continues  to  push 
forward.  Some  persons  are  so  obtuse  to  the  beauty  of  this  deli- 
cate edge  of  skin  at  the  base  of  the  nail  that  the}*  actually  trim 
it  away,  leaving  an  ugly  red  rim  around  the  nail,  like  the  edge 
of  an  inflamed  eyelid. 

Of  course,  all  excrescences,  such  as  warts,  must  be  remoA'ed 
from  the  hand ;  also  such  things  as  agnails,  or  hangnails,  as  they 
are  popularly  called,  ragged  pieces  of  skin  caused  by  the  forward 
growth  of  the  nail.  With  constant  care  in  keeping  the  skin  at 
the  base  of  the  nail  pressed  back,  these  latter,  however,  do  not 
occur.  The  most  common  treatment  of  warts,  with  nitrate  of 
silver  (lunar  caustic),  is  quite  painful,  and  has  to  be  frequently 
renewed.  A  high  authority,  Kaposi,  suggests  the  following  ap- 
plication for  their  treatment :  Paint  delicately,  with  a  camel's 
hair  brush,  on  and  around  the  base  of  the  wart,  once  daily, 
with  a  solution  of  1  part  of  bichloride  of  mercury  to  30  parts 
of  collodion. 


252  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

Fowler's  solution  of  arsenic,  from  1  to  3  minims,  twice 
a  day,  taken  internally,  has  been  known  to  effect  the  cure  of 
warts. 

Warta  can  be  summarily  removed  by  the  action  of  the 
electric  needle. 

There  are  many  refinements  connected  with  the  beautifica- 
tion  of  the  hand  which  some  persons  would  not  find  it  possible 
to  practice.  All,  however,  are  able  to  accept  and  pursue  the 
following  course  as  the  basis  of  any  possible  amplification  of  the 
process. 

"Wash  the  hands  frequently  with  soft  water  and  bland  soap, 
avoiding  the  use  of  warm  water  except  for  the  removal  of  an 
exceptional  amount  of  foreign  matter  on  the  skin.  In  wiping 
the  hands,  press  backward  in  all  directions  the  skin  around  the 
nails.  Trim  the  nails  neatly  with  a  sharp  penknife  (if  }Tou  can, 
use  the  knife  instead  of  the  scissors),  so  that  the}'  shall  be 
slightly  rounding  at  the  ends,  and  not  project  beyond  the  ends 
of  the  fingers.  Then  round  them  off  to  the  greatest  nicety  with 
the  delicate  kind  of  file  to  be  found  in  the  manicure  boxes  and 
elsewhere.  Daily  employment  of  this  filing  process  enables  one 
even  to  dispense  with  paring  the  nails.  Some  persons,  few  we 
are  happy  to  say,  are  like  Miss  Bets}'  Trotwood,  who,  being 
afraid  of  fire,  always  -went  to  a  hotel  in  London  where  they  had 
a  marble  staircase,  and,  to  secure  more  marble  staircase,  took  a 
room  at  the  top  of  the  house.  They  cherish  the  nails  as  if  they 
were  exotic  plants  that  ought  to  show  their  luxuriance  of  growth. 
We  have  even  known  a  man  to  have  a  single  pet  nail,  which  was 
the  cherished  Joseph  of  the  family  of  brethren,  to  the  point  of 
having  a  coat  of  many  colors. 

The  nails  of  a  Chinaman  of  exalted  rank,  grown  long  to 
show  that  he  is  above  the  possibilit}'  of  manual  labor,  propped 
up  with  bamboo  sticks,  grooved,  tawny,  friable,  are  disgusting. 
In  only  lesser  degree,  nails  grown  distinctly  beyond  the  end  of 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT   OF   THE    HANDS.  253 

the  finger  resemble  claws,  and,  to  whatever  point  the  practice  is 
pushed,  are  to  that  degree  repulsive.  Only  those  nails  are  hand- 
some which,  in  themselves  handsome  by  constitution,  are  con- 
stantly changed  by  new  growth,  and  so  pared  as  to  project  no 
farther  beyond  the  end  of  the  finger  or  the  toe  than  to  subserve 
nature's  purpose  of  protection.  Back  of  a  certain  kind  of 
beauty  there  is  no  utility  ;  it  is  an  independent  existence.  Back 
of  a  certain  other  kind,  as  we  have  shown,  must  be  demonstrated 
utility.  Without  the  recognition  in  practice  of  this  fact,  beauty 
which  might  exist  is  often  suppressed.  It  is  not  we,  but  nature, 
that  lays  down  these  laws. 

Going  back  to  the  times  of  our  grandmothers,  when  things 
in  this  country  were  much  more  primitive  than  at  present, 
it  was  a  common  thing  to  find  bran  upon  the  washstand,  to  be 
used  for  imparting  softness  to  the  skin  of  the  hand.  It  was  em- 
ployed either  in  the  form  of  flour  or  as  compounded  with  soap. 
It  is  none  the  less  now  a  serviceable  substance  for  the  purpose 
named.  The  flour  has,  before  becoming  saturated,  a  certain 
moderate  roughness,  which  fits  it  for  polishing,  and,  after  becom- 
ing saturated,  for  an  emollient  agent,  some  small  amount  of 
which  is  doubtless  absorbed  by  the  skin. 

A  piece  of  smooth  pumice-stone  is  well  adapted  for  the 
removal  of  any  callosities  or  hard  parts  on  the  palm  of  the  hand. 
Then  follows  the  hygienic  treatment  with  water  and  bland  soap, 
accompanied,  if  one  please,  by  the  use  of  bran-flour.  Added  to 
this  one  can  very  much  increase  the  delicacy  and  beauty  of  the 
skin  of  the  hands  by  putting  upon  them,  and  rubbing  well  into 
them,  by  revolving  them  within  each  other,  some  preparation 
like  the  oil  of  almonds.  There  was  in  this  country,  man}'  years 
ago,  a  very  elegant  preparation  of  the  kind,  in  the  form  of  a 
pomade,  but  inquiry  for  it  lately  among  pharmacists  and  per- 
fumers has  gone  to  show  that  the  article  is  no  longer  in  the 
market.      A  speck  of  this,  no  bigger  than  a  small  pea,  well 


254 


HEREDITY.    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 


rubbed  into  the  skin  of  the  hands,  imparted  to  it  a  sensation  of 
delightful  softness  and  pliability,  and  to  the  sense  of  smell  the 
most  pleasant  gratification. 

[fthe  hands  be  first  of  all  washed  in  almond-meal  dissolved 
in  warm  water,  and  rubbed  when  dry  with  lemon-juice  or  with 
Rhenish  cologne,  and  then  bathed  with  the  preparation  of  ben- 
zoin mentioned  in  the  chapter  on  the  treatment  of  the  face,  they 
are  much  benefited.  "We  here  give  the  ingredients  of  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  same  purpose,  as  compounded  b}r  one  of  the  first 
pharmaceutists  of  Philadelphia: — 


AMYGDALINE,  OK  FLOUB  OF  ALMONDS. 

Best  almond-meal, 4    pounds. 

Powdered  orris-root, 1    pound. 

Powdered  castile-soap  (white),       ....  2    pounds. 

Oil  of  bergamot, y2  ounce. 

Oil  of  bitter  almonds, 1    drachm. 

Extract  of  musk, y,  ounce. 

Mix  thoroughly,  sift,  and  keep  in  a  dry  place. 

The  following  recipe  for  the  same  purpose  is  derived  from 
the  Medical  Magazine  of  Pharmacy : — 

ALMOND-MEAL. 

Almond-meal,    in    fine    powder,    prepared    from 
blanched  bitter  almonds,  after  the  oil  has  been 

extracted, 6  ounces. 

Orris-root,  in  fine  powder, 4      " 

Wheat-flour, 4       " 

White  castile-soap,  in  line  powder,  ...  1  ounce. 

Borax,  in  fine  powder, 1       " 

Oil  of  bitter  almonds, 10  drops. 

Oil  of  bergamot 2  drachms. 

Tincture  of  musk, 1  drachm. 

.Mix  thoroughly,  and  pass  the  mixture  through  a  fine  sieve. 

A  third  recipe  for  the  same  purpose  is  also  introduced  here, 
in  order  that  the  reader  may  have  some  range  of  selection.  It 
is  prepared  by  the  same  pharmaceutist  just  alluded  to,  and  is 
especially  grateful  to  the  skin  when  suffering  from  irritation 
such  as  that  induced  by  shaving  : — 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT    OF   THE    HANKS.         255 

COCOALINE. 

Butter  of  cocoa, jounce. 

Oil  of  fresh,  sweet  almonds, K     " 

Glycerin, 1      " 

Finest-powdered,  white  castile-soap,       .        .        •  X     " 

Oil  of  roses, 2    drops. 

Oil  of  neroli, 4      " 

Oil  of  hitter  almonds, 5       " 

Rose-water,  sufficient  to  make  up  to        .         .        .8  ounces. 
Make  an  emulsion. 

The  following  will  be  found  eminent^  soothing  and  cura- 
tive for  cases  of  chapped  hands  : — 

Glycerin, 2  ounces. 

Egg-albumen, 2      " 

Oil  of  roses, 2  drops. 

Rub  the  mixture  gently  into  the  skin  several  times  a  day. 

The  delicacy  and  beauty  of  the  skin  of  the  hands  may  be 
increased  by  wearing  gloves  at  night.  The  mere  wearing  of 
gloves  under  these  circumstances  has  a  good  effect.  This  may, 
however,  be  much  increased  b^y  moistening  the  hands  with  one 
or  another  of  the  three  preparations  of  almond  just  given  above. 
The  gloves  used  should  be  loose,  and  made  of  chamois-skin, 
beaver,  or  kid.  Any  such  leather  gloves,  especially  such  as, 
from  having  been  worn,  are  soft  and  roomy,  serve  the  purpose 
well. 

This  process  of  glove-wearing  at  night  may  be  made  more 
elaborate.  Preparatory  to  all  attempts  at  refinements,  there 
must  be,  however,  the  true  basis  for  refinement  already  de- 
scribed. If  such  has  been  reached,  gloves  ma}'  be  worn  at  night 
to  advantage,  in  connection  with  certain  preparations  which 
have  been  devised  for  the  cosmetic  treatment  of  the  hands. 
Supposing  that  the  hands  have  been  duly  cared  for  by  the  em- 
ployment of  fine  pumice-stone  on  the  palms,  and  that  of  bland 
soaps,  such  as  almond,  glycerin,  lettuce-oil,  white  castile;  the 
skin  of  the  fingers  properly  rubbed  away  from  the  lunula  of  the 
nails,  and   the  nails  themselves   polished  (never  scrape  them) 


•_'>,  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

with  a  composition  of  line  emery-powder  and  cinnabar,  using 
an  instrument  such  as  one  finds  in  the  manicure  boxes  (chamois- 
skin  barked  with  wood);  then  the  hands  are  ready  for 
ultimate  refinement. 

You  can  use  large,  soft,  leather  gloves  three  or  four  sizes 
too  large.  Rip  them  open  and  spread  the  inside  with  one  of  the 
following-  preparations.  The  simplest,  and  therefore  the  hast 
troublesome  to  make,  are  the  three  following  ones  : — 

1.  Ground    barley,   the  white  of  an   egg,  a  teaspoonful  of 

glycerin,  and  1  ounce  of  honey.  ' 

2.  Home-made  soft  soap, }4  pound. 

Olive-oil, 1  gill. 

Mutton-tallow, 1  ounce. 

After  boiling  these  together,  remove  them  from  the  fire  before 
adding — 

Spirits  of  wine, 1  gill. 

Ambergris,  or  some  other  perfume,  to  an  amount  to  suit  the 
taste,  always  being  on  your  guard  not  to  seeut  things 
too  highly. 

3.  Refined  pine-tar, 1  teaspoonful. 

Olive-oil, 1  pint. 

Melt  in  a  water-bath,  scenting  with  rose-water  or  some  other  perfume. 
This  is  a  preparation  which  does  not  spoil. 

The  following  two  preparations,  for  use  with  cosmetic 
gloves,  are  slightly  more  elaborate  : — 

1.  Myrrh, 1  ounce. 

Honey, 4  ounces. 

Yellow  wax 2      " 

Rose-water, 6      " 

Melt  the  wax  in  a  water-bath,  and  add  the  myrrh  to  it  while  it  is  hot. 
After  beating  them  up  together,  add  the  honey  and  rose-water.  Beat  all  up, 
and  add  glycerin  by  the  teaspoonful  until  you  secure  a  paste  which  will  spread 
nicely. 

2.  Oil  of  sweet  almonds, 2  teaspoonfuls. 

Glycerin, 1  teaspoonful. 

Rice-flour, 1  " 

Fresh  eggs, 2  yelks. 

Rose-water, 1  ounce. 

Tincture  of  benzoin, 36  drops. 

Beat  up  until  the  mixture  forms  a  paste. 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE    AND    TREATMENT   OF    THE    HANDS.         257 

Occasionally  unsightly  white  spots  appear  on  the  nail- 
surface.  These  can  generally  be  removed  by  the  following 
preparation,  put  on  at  night,  and  the  residue  removed  the  next 
morning  with  some  little  oily  substance,  such  as  butter,  cream, 
or  other  things  to  be  found  in  every  household, — some  refined 
pitch,  with  a  little  myrrh,  and,  after  mixing  them  together,  lay 
the  mixture  over  the  nails  for  the  night. 

There  are  certain  substances  so  powerful  in  their  action  on 
the  root  of  the  nail  as  to  injure  its  constitution  for  a  long  time 
following  frequent  contact  with  them,  perhaps  in  some  cases  per- 
manently. We  had,  several  years  ago,  an  experience  of  this  kind 
in  connection  with  using  sulphuric  acid  (oil  of  vitriol)  for  cer- 
tain experiments  which  we  were  making  with  galvanic  batteries 
charged  with  the  acid  dissolved  in  water.  The  nails  became 
ridged,  and  some  of  their  individual  cells  raised  above  the  general 
surface,  and  it  was  not  until  several  jears  had  passed  that  these 
effects  ceased  to  be  visible.  Deceived  by  a  name,  persons  often 
innocently  use  an  article  of  which  they  would  be  very  war}-  if 
they  only  knew  of  its  real  character  through  the  name  with 
which  they  are  familiar.  Vitriol  has  a  much  worse  significance 
to  the  mind  of  the  laity  than  has  sulphuric  acid  ;  so  also  they 
have  of  aqua  for-tis  a  dread  which  they  do  not  alwa}^s  feel  in  the 
case  of  nitric  acid.  A  case  of  this  kind  came  not  long  ago  to 
our  notice,  where  a  lady,  following  out  a  recipe  for  cleaning 
marble,  which  she  had  happened  upon  in  some  book,  bought 
quite  largely  of  what  she  did  not  think  of  as  a  particularly 
dangerous  liquid,  and  was  shortly  afterward  horrified  at  learning 
that  she  had  been  buying  aquafortis  under  the  (to  her)  innocent 
title  of  nitric  acid,  an  article  which  she  then  recognized  as  most 
undesirable  to  have  about  a  nursery. 

17 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE    FEET. 

NO  portion  of  the  body  is  more  imposed  upon  than  is  the 
civilized  foot.  It  alone,  including  in  lesser  degree,  be- 
cause numerically  much  fewer,  the  waists  of  some  silly  women 
who  have  no  appreciation  of  what  in  feminine  attributes  pleases 
the  eye  of  man,  leads  a  life  of  durance  vile  and  wretchedness 
that  degrade  and  transmit  evidence  of  previous  servile  condition 
to  posterity.  We  do  not,  as  that  expression  implies,  place  the 
two  kinds  of  bondage  in  the  same  category  as  to  degree  of 
iniquity.  We  cite  the  two  cases  together,  merely  as  represent- 
ing the  only  two  in  which  the  human  body  is  in  civilization  con- 
strained to  its  manifest  injury  and  degradation.  The  gartering 
of  some  women  below,  instead  of  above,  the  knee  is  not  a  hy- 
gienic nor  a  beautifying  mode  of  securing  the  stocking,  for  it 
impedes  circulation  in  the  part  and  vulgarizes  the  contour  of 
the  calf  of  the  leg ;  but  that  practice  is  a  trifle,  not  in  comparison 
worth  mentioning. 

An  excessively  small  waist  may  be  a  sign  of  maidenhood, 
but  suggests  sexual  deficienc}^,  and  in  lessening  sexual  attrac- 
tion defeats  the  end  of  its  constriction.  Ex  pede  Herculem, 
from  a  mere  fragment  we  can  judge  of  the  whole  person,  says 
the  Latin  proverb,  and  no  woman  with  a  wasp-waist  will  ever 
persuade  a  man  that  it  can  merge  into  the  grand  contours  of 
bosom  and  fine  hips,  any  more  than  he  can  think  of  a  rill  as 
directly  related  to  the  ocean.  Similarly  we  may  say  of  the  feet, 
that  they,  as  well  as  the  hands,  symbolize  the  whole  person. 
Their  undue  constraint  results  in  destroying  their  natural  accord 
with  the  person,  and  at  the  same  time  in  lessening  grace  through 
restricted  liberty  of  movement.     There  are  men  who  lace,  but 

(259) 


260  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

very  few,and  men  who  wear  tight  boots, but  comparatively  very 
few.  It  is  civilized  woman,  of  not  the  highest  type  of  the 
civilization  by  which  she  is  Burrounded,  who  is  the  sinner  in 
these  respects. 

We  Americans  are  the  greatest  inventors  of  the  world. 
Even  Dickens,  who  was  no  lover  of  us  nationally,  although  fond 
of  our  ducats,  conceded  that  only  Americans  had  discovered 
what  to  do  with  the  small  of  the  back, — "  they  sit  on  it,'r  he  said. 
But,  while  we  are  the  greatest  inventors  of  the  world,  we  are 
also  the  most  servile  imitators.  Thousands  of  men,  while  pre- 
tending politically  to  look  down  upon  the  Britisher,  anxiously 
copy  his  speech,  his  accent,  and  clothes.  The  fair  sex,  to  a 
woman,  without,  any  similar  pretense,  frankly  yields  allegiance 
to  Parisian  rule  in  dress.  It  is  not  the  Britisher,  however,  who 
has  changed  within  a  decade  or  two,  his  conceit  pointing  as 
steadily  as  ever  to  himself,  as  points  the  needle  to  the  pole;  nor 
the  French  either,  wdiose  self-satisfaction  in  supremacy  within 
their  own  domain  could  not  well  be  less  than  it  is  as  undisputed. 
But,  if  we  can  be  so  original  as  we  have  proved  ourselves,  why 
cannot  we  stand  in  all  respects  more  confidently  alone?  Grant- 
ing the  claims  of  fashion,  yet  there  is  a  point  where  reason  would 
seem  to  he  more  capable  than  it  proves  to  he  in  dealing  with 
fashion's  follies  in  the  interest  even  of  the  object  of  fashion. — 
to  increase  attraction.  Has  it  never  struck  American  women 
who  have  been  addicted  to  wearing  the  most  damaging  of  French 
shoes,  in  which  a  Parisian  never  thinks  of  walking,  but  reserves 
for  the  house  or  carriage,  that  the  native-born  type  to  which  they 
belong  is  so  singularly  endowed  with  small  hands  and  feet,  in 
some  parts  of  country  verging  on  the  danger-line  of  beaut}', 
which  we  have  indeed  seen  overpassed,  that  they  have  no  need 
of  affecting  this  elegance  as  if  they  had  it  not?  If  this  be  true, 
as  can  be  proved  by  statistics,  what  an  absurdly  it  is  for  them 
to  pinch  and  screw  their  feet  into  shoes  too  small,  when  all  they 


THE   FEET.  201 

have  to  do  is  to  be  handsomely  and  comfortably  shod,  and  still 
as  to  their  feet  be  far  below  the  standard  of  size  with  which 
their  foreign  sisters  step  complacently  on  our  shores. 

Much  has  been  said  regarding  the  late  barefaced  way  in  which 
bogns,  non-bogus,  exhausted,  ruined,  impecunious  foreigners 
have  purchased  American  girls  with  their  bogus  or  non-bogus,  but 
always  impecunious,  offers  of  rank,  and  the  humiliating  phase  of 
American  girls  being  willing  to  transfer  themselves  for  this 
titular  vanity,  when  it  is  notorious  that  in  no  country  has 
woman,  whether  as  child,  girl,  or  matron,  so  high  a  place  as  in 
this  in  chivalric  love  and  respect.  But,  whereas  the  girls  so 
disposing  of  themselves  are  palpably  only  "  pleased  with  a  rattle, 
tickled  with  a  straw,"  sufficient  credit  has  not  been  awarded 
to  their  captors  for  the  good  taste  which  they  have  evinced, 
their  sole  motive  having  been  deemed  mercenaiy.  But  let  us 
look  for  a  moment  at  the  thing  in  the  glass  of  fashion,  by  which 
to  judge  the  mold  of  form,  and  see  if  Ave  have  done  these 
foreigners  the  fullest  justice.  Be  thej-  real  or  spurious,  lords  or 
lordlings,  counts  or  bogus  counts,  it  will  be  seen  upon  scrutiny 
that  the}^  have  an  eye  for  other  things  besides  the  main  chance. 

The  action  of  these  girls  has  been  characterized  as  outrage- 
ous from  the  point  of  view  of  morals.  But  we  shall  not  be  so 
severe  in  our  thoughts,  remembering  that,  for  the  most  part,  in 
the  feminine  mind,  the  mere  practice,  without  the  religious 
theory  of  matrimony,  covers,  like  charity,  a  multitude  of  sins. 
We  characterize  it  as  unwise,  from  the  fact  that  in  America  the 
wife  holds  the  highest  position  which  she  has  yet  attained.  We 
confess,  however,  that  if  we  were  a  count  or  bogus  count,  or  a 
needy  foreigner  of  any  sort,  that,  as  we  should  not  be  expected 
to  have  aivy  morals,  we  should  be  most  happy  to  accept  in 
marriage  any  rich  American  girl  who  is  at  the  same  time  hand- 
some and  all  that  thousands  of  American  girls  are  otherwise  in 
delectability,  and  that  is  just  what  these  men  are  doing.     One 


-    _  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

of  them  must  be  very  forlorn  indeed  to  demand  only  money  for 
his  rank.  Ee  must,  as  a  general  rule,  have*  beauty,  grace, 
vivacity,  manners,  education,  or  else  the  money-bags  must  be 
very  heavy,  ami  perhaps  they  will  not  even  then  suffice  to  tip 
the  scale.  It  is  only  a  very  dilapidated  American  old  maid  who 
has  to  pay  an  inordinately  high  price  for  a  poor  specimen  of  a 
count  like  a  barber.  So  we  argue  that  great  injustice  has  been 
done  to  the  motives  ami  taste  of  these  foreigners,  ami  impliedly 
to  the  charms  of  the  American  girls  whom  they  preferably  seek. 
They  have  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  personal  charms  of  these 
girls.  With  their  sublime  egotism,  they  only  want  the  earth, 
and  they  get  it. 

Granting  the  brightness,  vivacity y  information,  tact,  grace, 
and  all  other  attractive  attributes  of  the  girls,  back  of  these, 
however,  there  must  still  be  something  in  their  physical  charac- 
teristics which  makes  them  so  attractive  to  foreigners,  for  these 
qualities  do  not  of  themselves  ever  prove  most  powerful  in 
sexual  selection.  The  main  attraction  is  through  that  principle 
which  nature  is  continually  manifesting  as  operative  among 
human  beings, — the  affinity  of  opposites.  Frederic  the  Great's 
regiment  of  giants  left  progeny  of  huge  size  at  Potsdam,  but  we 
do  not  hear  that  the  race  has  been  maintained.  If  every  tall 
man  and  tall  woman,  and  similarly  of  the  short  of  both  sexes, 
should  come  together  by  elective  affinity  in  marriage,  what 
would  become  of  the  human  race  as  we  know  it,  even  within  the 
3pan  of  a  hundred  years?  It  is  the  delicacy  of  the  traits  of  the 
American  woman  which  attracts  the  average  foreigner.  After 
the  whopping  big  feet  and  hands  of  many  foreign  women, 
especially  of  Englishwomen,  it  is  delightful  to  see  the  sylph-like 
delicacy  of  the  sex  in  America  as  to  their  extremities.  And  the 
whole  person  of  the  American  girl  partakes  of  this  delicacy  of 
physical  traits,  and.  coupled  with  mental  attributes,  represents 
what   foreigners  find  so  attractive  in  her.     Therefore,  her  reflec- 


THE    FEET.  263 

tion,  as  viewed  in  the  foreign  glass  of  fashion,  which  she  bas 
chosen  to  judge  of  her  mold  of  form,  being  so  satisfactory,  it  is 
folly  for  her  to  seek  to  exaggerate  one  of  her  physical  traits 
which  already  verges  upon  excess. 

The  lowest  tj'pe  of  foot  is  that  of  the  negro.  Its  lowness  is 
constituted  by  the  simian  flatness  of  the  instep,  the  hollow  of 
the  foot  being  obliterated.  The  calcaneum,  or  heel-bone,  stand- 
ing at  a  considerable  angle  from  the  vertical,  toward  the  rear, 
as  a  consequence  lowers  the  arch  of  the  instep.  Instead  of  the 
foot  as  a  whole  being  a  high  arch,  it  becomes  none  at  all,  from 
the  fact  that  one  of  its  abutments  is  thrown  far  away  from  the 
centre.  In  the  highest  type  of  foot  the  instep  rises  in  a  swelling 
arch.  This  trait  ma}r,  however,  like  any  other,  be  excessive. 
Then  it  becomes  unsightly,  and,  reaching  the  extremest  point,  is 
a  deformity.  We  have  known  a  person  who  had  a  foot  so  short 
and  an  instep  so  high  as  to  make  the  effect  club-footed,  and  he 
(for  it  was  a  man)  could  not  walk  with  ease.  The  Arab's  test 
of  elegance  and  refinement  in  a  foot,  that  water  will  flow  under 
its  hollow,  shows  that  early  ift  the  history  of  the  human  race 
anatomical  differences  in  its  tj'pes  were  recognized.  The  Arabs, 
as  a  conquering  race,  were  very  eav\y  thrown  in  contact  with 
the  negro  in  Africa,  and  their  own  Eastern  elegance  of  extremi- 
ties must  have  struck  them  as  in  strange  contrast  with  the 
negro's  rudeness  of  form  of  the  same  parts. 

It  should  be  axiomatic  that  nothing,  except  face  and  hands. 
can  be  so  aristocratic  as  a  well-dressed,  shapely  foot ;  nothing 
so  plebeian  as  an  ill-dressed,  clumsy  one;  and  nothing  more 
vulgar  than  any  foot  in  a  shoe  manifestly  too  tight. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE   COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT   OF   THE    FEET. 

THE  civilized  foot  presents  one  of  the  best  proofs  of  flie 
correctness  of  the  theory,  that  it  takes  a  vastly  longer  time 
to  affect  the  congenital  features  of  a  structure  than  to  affect  the 
adult  form  of  them.  It  must  be  remembered  that,  what  we  call 
civilization  has  endured  for  only  a  few  hundred  3'ears,  and  that 
it  is  only  during  this  comparatively  brief  period  in  the  history 
of  man  that  the  foot  has  been  unduly  constrained.  Going  back 
to  the  period  when  statuary  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  gen- 
eral condition  of  the  foot  in  ancient  times,  we  find  that  the  great 
toe  stood  somewhat  outward,  instead  of,  as  now,  standing  straight 
forward,  or  somewhat  inward,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  most  com- 
mon modern  position  of  the  member.  Children  of  civilization, 
when  first  born,  exhibit  this  t}'pe  of  foot,  but,  whether  or  not 
they  subsequently  go  barefoot,  later  in  life  exhibit  one  of  the  two 
other  types.  This  shows,  what  has  been  proA'ed  in  man}"  other 
ways  in  connection  with  animal  life,  that  through  continuous 
modification  of  function  on  definite  lines,  the  animal,  when  first 
born,  may  not  show  any  change  in  structure,  although,  at  a 
later  period  of  the  individual's  life,  the  long-latent  impression 
may  come  into  visible  existence. 

Great  absurdities  are  uttered  regarding  feet.  We  have  known 
a  foot  to  be  called  handsome  because  it  was  inordinately  small, 
when  it  had  not  a  single  handsome  attribute,  the  one  specially 
praised  being  so  much  in  excess  as  to  amount  to  a  defect.  A  foot, 
to  be  really  beautiful,  must  have  a  fine  instep,  perfectly  straight 
and  individually  symmetrical  toes  ;  the  nails  of  rose-pearly,  not 
yellowish,  tint;  heel  of  gently  outward  curvature;  and,  in  gen- 
eral contour,  be  softly  rounding  and  delicately  tinted  with  a  rosy 

(265) 


HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

heel  and  outside  edge.  Smallness  of  size,  which  must  be  con- 
sidered iff  strict  relation  to  the  whole  person,  is  also  an  element 

of  beauty  in  it  not  to  be  despised,  it'  not  present  in  excess.  It 
is  a  beautiful  foot  that  we  have  described,  hard  to  find,  and  yet 
existing,  and  possible  of  maintenance  in  its  pristine  beauty  by 
those  who  are  sensible,  to  whom  nature  has  been  gracious  in  her 
gifts.  So  born,  it  may  be  so  nurtured  as  to  be  t'o  its  possessor 
a  useful  companion  in  the  path  through  life;  but,  maltreated, 
will,  as  surely  as  fate,  repaj  in  misery  the  indignities  to  which  it 
may  have  been  subjected. 

So  much  suffering  is  often  caused  by  corns  and  bunions  as 
to  make  those  afflicted  with  them  unable  to  taste  of  the  pleasures, 
or  even  to  be  equal  to  the  comfortable  performance  of  the  duties, 
of  life.  The  pitch  of  misery  which  is  sometimes  reached  in  con- 
sequence of  their  presence  is  well  represented  in  the  by -word  of 
a  charitable  old  friend  of  ours,  who,  when  seeing  a  person  cross 
and  crabbed  without  apparent  cause,  always  remarks,  "  Oh,  poor 
thing,  his  [or  her]  feet  must  hurt." 

It  ought  to  be  said,  in  this  connection,  that  the  culpability 
of  having  corns  is  much  less  than  that  of  having  bunions.  Skins 
differ  so  much  in  different  persons  in  softness  and  pliancy,  that 
an  ill-fitting  shoe,  as  well  as  one  too  tight,  is  capable  of  produc- 
ing corns.  The  presence  of  a  bunion,  however,  is  proof  positive 
that  shoes  have  been  continuously  worn  too  tight.  The  differ- 
ence in  the  cases  lies  in  this,  that  one  affection  arises  from  fric- 
tion, or  from  pressure  on  the  skin,  but  the  other  from  pressure 
on  a  joint;  and  the  latter  proclaims  at  once  through  sensation 
the  injury  that  is  being  done,  while  the  former  may  go  on  for  a 
long  time  without  producing  an}-  sensation  at  all.  Besides,  as 
the  two  positions  where  bunions  occur  are  on  the  main  joints  of 
the  great  and  little  toes,  in  both  of  which,  unless  there  be  mal- 
formation of  the  foot,  pressure  from  a  shoe  is  lessened  by  its 
distribution  over  a  large  curved  area,  the  existence  of  the  bunion 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT    OB'   THE    FEET.  267 

proves  that  the  pressure  to  which  the  parts  have  been  deliberately 
subjected  was  enormous.  Thrice  unhappy  he  or  she  who  has  a 
bunion  surmounted  by  a  corn  as  legitimate  heir-apparent  to  the 
throne  I 

Our  advice  is,  Don't.  Do  not  deliberately  do  that  which  is 
certain  to  entail  discomfort  and  perhaps  misery  to  the  end  of 
life.  Avoid  so-called  cheap  shoes,  the  dearest  one  can  buy.  Un- 
less you  happen  to  know  of  a  number  for  readj'-made  shoes 
which  represents  a  size  that  exactly  suits  you,  avoid  all  ready- 
made  shoes.  The  wretched  period  has  passed  when  people  had 
not  even  "  rights  and  lefts,"  but  wore  what  were  called  straight 
shoes,  which  were  transposed  eveiy  night,  to  shift  their  places 
in  the  next  day's  wear.  Sensible,  handsome  shoes  are  procur- 
able in  every  large  city.  Miserable  ones  are,  of  course,  also  to 
be  found  there,  and  so  the  purchaser,  if  wary,  will  avoid  them. 
If  there  be  no  number  among  the  ready-made  shoes  that  repre- 
sents for  you  an  exact  fit,  have  your  shoes  made  to  order,  and  do 
not  take  them  unless  you  feel  that  the}'  fit.  Eveiy  one  knows 
for  himself  or  herself  best  where  the  shoe  pinches,  and  whether 
or  not  it  fits.     Break  in  no  man's   shoes.     The  operation  is  at 

3'our  untold  expense.    The  test  of  whether  they  fit  is  to  be  found 

» 
only  by  the  sensation  of  feeling,  not  in  the  shoemaker's  state- 
ment that  they  will  soon  come  all  right.  The  test  for  that  sen- 
sation, as  given  by  one  of  the  best  shoemakers  whom  we  ever 
knew,  was  that  in  a  well-fitting  shoe  one's  foot  feels  like  a  duck's 
in  the  mud.  The  expression  is  not  elegant,  but  a  more  elegant 
one  would  be  less  graphic. 

Follow  the  guidance  of  nature  ;  the  shoemaker  follows  it  in 
his  own  interest.  Those  worthy  people  sometimes  flatter,  as  did 
the  fox  when  he  besought  the  crow  up  the  tree,  with  a  piece  of 
cheese  in  her  beak,  to  exhibit  her  lovely  voice  for  his  delecta- 
tion. Nature  prescribes  that  the  toes  shall  lie  straight,  not  be 
bunched  up  against  their  joints;  that  the  sole  of  the  foot  shall 


868        HEREDITY,  HEALTH,  AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

not  rest  on  :i  narrow  strip  of  Leather,  with  the  Bides  of  the  foot 
bilging  over  on  the  ground.  Even  fashion  has  at  last  come 
pa  tially  t«>  see  that  nature  is  right, and  is  in  some  degree  brush- 
i  11  iz"  impatiently  aside  former  Buffering  and  vulgarity  in  the 
wearing  of  shoes. 

The  corn  is  not  the  kind  of  formation  described  by  charlatans. 
The  wonder-mongers  as  to  the  simplest  things  stamp  themselves 
as  quacks.  The  corn  has  no  root.  It  does  not  grow  upward  I »ut 
downward,  and  it  is  thus  protruded  upward.  Its  root,  if  it  could 
be  said  to  have  a  root,  would  be  in  the  tight  point  of  the  unduly 
pressing  shoe.  The  reader  can  easily  understand  now,  with  the 
aid  of  the  information  in  preceding  pages  as  to  the  constitution 
and  growth  of  the  skin,  that  nature,  in  seeking  to  protect  itself 
against  injury,  forms  layer  after  la3'er  of  the  horny  layer  of 
the  scarf-skin  over  the  point  of  pressure.  The  layer  on  top  of 
a  corn  is  the  earliest,  not  the  latest  of  the  growths.  The  latest 
growth  is  at  the  bottom  of  all,  directly  in  contact  with  disor- 
ganized mucous-layer  tissue.  This  disorganized,  unhealthy  mu- 
cous layer  it  is  which,  when  the  corn  as  a  mass  is  removed  from 
the  foot,  clings  to  its  base,  and  is  triumphantly  exhibited  by  the 
quack  as  its  root.  If  you  will  examine  fine  slices  of  a  corn  cut 
horizontally  across,  you  will  find  that  they  represent  concentric 
layers  of  a  horny  substance,  and  this  is  the  dead  horny  layer  of 
the  scarf-skin. 

It  follows,  then,  that,  with,  proper  attention  to  the  feet, 
corns  can  be  easily  removed,  and  that,  if  the  attention  be  assidu- 
ous, as  it  ought  to  be,  they  need  never  occur.  By  means  of 
soaking  the  feet  in  warm  water,  which  softens  the  dead  horny 
layer  of  the  scarf-skin,  it  can  be  peeled  off  until  it  is  reduced  to 
the  single  layer  at  the  general  surface  of  the  foot.  After  that,  if 
the  attention  be  continuous,  through  bathing  the  feet  in  warm 
water,  followed  by  the  use  of  a  delicate  file  and  rough  towel,  the 
tendency  to  the  formation  of  a  corn  at  the  place  can  be  checked. 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT    OF    THK    IKKT.  269 

If  the  case  be  one  of  long  neglect,  then  the  only  additional  treat- 
ment to  be  adopted  is,  after  the  use  of  the  warm  bath,  to  3often 
the  part,  to  reduce  its  size  preliminarily  by  paring  oil'  the  com 
with  a  sharp  pen-knife,  being  especially  careful  not  to  injure  the 
surrounding  flesh,  or  to  cut  to  the  quick  the  corn  itself.  After 
that,  the  routine,  regular  processes  previously  recommended  will 
suffice  to  keep  the  corn  suppressed  until  the  end  of  the  longest  life. 

Whenever  one  is  so  situated,  pecuniarily  and  otherwise,  as 
to  be  able  to  procure  them,  the  services  of  a  skillful  chiropodist 
at  regular  stated  intervals  is  a  great  luxury.  Forty  years  ago  a 
gentleman  of  this  city  advocated  the  employment  of  a  skillful 
chiropodist  with  every  regiment  of  the  army,  but,  so  far  as  we 
are  aware,  without  producing  any  impression  as  to  its  signal 
advantage.  Later,  however,  during  our  civil  war,  thirty 
years  ago,  some  action  was  taken  in  that  direction.  Now,  the 
greatest  military  power  in  the  world,  the  German  Empire,  has 
finally  introduced  the  practice  of  employing  chiropodists  with 
the  arm}r.  What,  however,  applies  to  a  couple  of  millions  of 
soldiers,  representing  persons  drawn  from  man}'  classes  of 
society,  does  not  apply,  at  least  as  obligator}',  to  very  many 
persons,  and,  least  of  all,  to  gentlemen  and  ladies. 

The  soft  corn,  which  sometimes  ensues  from  a  single  day's 
hot  marching  or  walking,  and  often  presents  itself  between  the 
toes,  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a  blister.  It  is  easily  reduced 
within  a  few  hours  by  the  use  of  small,  rounded  pieces  cut  from 
an  old,  white-kid  glove,  with  holes  made  in  the  centre,  so  as  to 
keep  away  all  contact  from  the  excrescence.  White  kid,  being 
without  dye,  is  preferable  to  colored  kid  for  the  purpose.  It  is, 
also,  independent  of  the  fact  that  dye  is  poisonous,  and  that  it 
hardens  leather,  better  for  the  purpose,  from  the  circumstance, 
not  generally  known,  that  the  best  kid — that  which  is  most  soft 
and  pliable — is  reserved  for  undyed  gloves,  dye  to  a  certain 
degree  disguising  quality. 


2T0  HEREDITY.    HEALTH.    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

The  bunion  can  sometimes  be  reduced  by  the  process  of 
applying,  with  a  camel's  hair  brush,  tincture  of  iodine  to  the 
inflamed  part,  or  by  the  application  of  a  soothing  poultice,  such 
as  one  made  of  flaxseed,  or  of  flaxseed  and  slippery  elm.  Some- 
times the  great  mistake  in  treatment  is  made,  of  cutting  a  hole 
in  a  snugly-fitting  shoe,  just  large  enough  to  uncover  the  inflamed 
area  and  no  more.  In  the  confined  parts  of  the  foot,  thus 
uniformly  constricted,  the  circulation  is  equalized  on  that  large 
surface,  and  remains  sensibly  undisturbed;  whereas,  inasmuch  as 
the  free  part  of  the  foot  tends  to  rise  through  the  opening,  the 
edges  of  the  whole  press  harmfully  on  the  diseased  part.  The 
consequence  is  that  the  blood  tends  to  flow  into  and  engorge 
the  diseased  part,  the  condition  of  which,  from  increasing  press- 
ure from  these  cumulative  causes,  becomes  worse  and  worse. 
The  best  course  to  pursue  for  reducing  the  inflammation  and 
swelling  is  to  give  the  part  perfect  rest  in  a  loose  slipper.  If 
this  be  not  feasible,  then  the  next  best  course  is  to  make  the 
hole  in  the  ordinary  shoe  so  large  as  to  uncover  not  only 
the  inflamed  area  but  a  large  margin  all  around  it.  By  this 
plan  the  tendency  of  blood  to  the  part  is  not  stimulated,  and 
the  inflammation  and  engorgement  of  the  part  intensified  ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  it  is  relieved  of  all  stress  as  the  indispensable 
condition  of  its  getting  well. 

The  prompt  cure  of  this  affection  is  most  important,  for  if 
the  synovial  membrane,  the  membrane  lining  the  joint,  should 
become  seriously  diseased,  and  its  secretions  abnormal,  the 
ailment  becomes  chronic,  and  life-long  suffering,  increasing  with 
vears,  may  be  entailed.  Such  a  condition,  we  need  hardly  say, 
debars  one  from  many  legitimate  pleasures  otherwise  easy  of 
attainment.  We  have  in  our  mind's  eye  now  the  case  of  a  lady, 
who,  a  few  months  ago,  came  to  Philadelphia  for  a  visit  of  two 
weeks'  recreation,  when,  in  consequence  of  having  resumed  while 
traveling  shoes  too  tight  for  her,  her  old  ailment  of  an  inflamed 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT    OF    THE   FEET.  271 

joint  recurred,  and  she  was  unable  to  stir  out  of  the  house 
during  her  whole  stay  in  the  city.  The  ease,  as  one  of  impru- 
dence, is  all  the  more  remarkable  beeause,  only  a  year  before, 
she  had  had,  under  precisely  the  same  circumstances,  fair  winn- 
ing of  what  was  likely  to  happen  if  she  persisted  in  wearing 
shoes  too  tight,  for  on  that  occasion  of  a  visit  to  the  city  for 
recreation  she  had,  through  the  same  imprudence,  been  able  to 
pay  only  a  visit  or  two  before  she  was  confined  to  the  house 
with  the  inflamed  joint  for  the  remainder  of  her  sta}'.  This  is 
certainly  a  heavy  penalty  to  pay  for  original  and  continued  petty 
tribute  to  vanity,  still  lingering  sufficient^  to  postpone  cure,  or 
perhaps  to  remove  all  rational  hope  of  it  forever. 

The  two  following  formulas  represent  good  prescriptions  for 
the  treatment  of  corns  and  bunions  : — 

1.  Borate  of  sodium,      .......     1  drachm. 

Extract  of  cannabis,. 1  scruple. 

Collodion,  .        .        .        ...  .         .1  ounce. 

Paint  over  the  corn  or  bunion  every  day  once  or  twice,  and  after  five  or  six 
applications  the  superficial  growth  can  be  scraped  off. 

2.  Salicylic  acid, 1    drachm. 

Cocaine,      .........    5    grains. 

Collodion, %  ounce. 

Paint  over  the  corn  or  bunion  twice  a  day,  and  scrape  away  the  superficial 
growth  at  the  end  of  three  or  four  days. 

The  two  following  recipes  will  be  found  good  for  the  treat- 
ment of  chilblains : — 

1.  Camphor, 1  drachm. 

Beta-naphthol, 10  grains. 

Cocaine,      . 5      " 

Diachylon  ointment, 1  ounce. 

2.  After  bathing  the  part  in  hot  water,  balsam  of   copaiba  is 

painted  over  the  surface. 

The    Canadian    Practitioner    once   gave   a   recipe    for   the 
removal  of  corns,  without  any  further  voucher  for  it  than  that 


'212  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AM)   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

it  was  quoted  from  the  Medical  Courier,  quoting  L' Union 
Medicate  tin  Canada.  Whether  <>r  not  it  appeared  in  the  first 
print  with  the  name  of  the  author,  we  do  not  know.  .Is,  how- 
ever the  prescription  is  harmless,  and  seems  upon  its  face  to 
represent  whal  may  be  an  efficacious  treatment,  we  here  give  it 
with  this  explanation  : — 

Phosphorated  oil  (boiled  oil)  1  in  800  is  recommended  by  the  Medical  Cou- 
rier, without  giving  the  author's  came.  Every  morning,  with  abrn.-h  dipped  in  Hie 
phosphorated  oil,  that  portion  of  the  stocking  in  contact  with  the  corn  is  soaked. 
In  about  a  fortnight  only  a  thin  pedicle  remains. — L' Union  Medicale  du  Canada. 

The  best  plan  to  adopt  to  rectify  ingrowing  nail,  short  of 
the  necessity  for  surgical  interference,  is  to  cut  the  end  of  the 
great-toe  nail  short,  and  almost  square  across,  so  that  it  shall 
not  exert  the  slightest  pressure  upon  the  nail-bed.  Thus  its 
forward  growth  being  unrestricted,  its  tendency  to  lateral 
spreading  will  be  sensibl}r  relieved. 

Of  course  the  general  cosmetic  care  and  treatment  of  the 
nails  of  the  feet  do  not  differ  from  the  general  cosmetic  care  and 
treatment  of  the  nails  of  the  hand,  already  described  in  their 
appropriate  place. 

In  connection  with  the  nicest  care  of  the  feet,  the  use  of  a 
smooth  piece  of  pumice-stone  is  found  very  useful  for  keep- 
ing the  sole  and  outside  edges  soft,  through  reducing  the  thick- 
ness of  the  cuticle  there,  which  has  a  tendency  in  those  parts  to 
become  callous  through  thickening,  as  the  result  of  friction  and 
pressure  from  exercise. 

There  is  a  disease  called  bromidrosis,  characterized  by  fetid 
sweating,  the  affliction  from  which  obviously  does  not  cease  at 
the  suffering  of  the  patient.  The  feet  do  not  escape  it,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  the  disease,  when  local,  preferably  attacks  those 
parts.  Owing  to  the  number  and  largeness  of  the  pores  there, 
their  consequent  capacity  for  copious  exudation,  and  the  con- 
fined manner  in  which  the  feet  are  dressed,  they  are  of  all  por- 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE   AND   TREATMENT   OF   THE    FEET.  273 

tions  of  the  body  those  which  can  become  most  offensive.  Leather 
is  porous,  and  freely  yields  effluvium  to  the  air,  besides  being 
capable  of  much  absorption.  When  made  into  shoes,  it  has 
added  to  its  natural  capacity  for  absorbing  and  transmitting 
odor  that  derived  from  the  presence  of  the  lining  of  the  shoes. 
Even  shoes  cleaned  by  mixing  the  blacking  with  saliva  have  an 
unpleasant  odor,  because  saliva  is  a  digestive  fluid,  and  in  becom- 
ing stale,  in  contact  with  soluble  matter,  becomes  also  putrid. 
We  are  glad  to  say  that  already  a  movement  is  perceptible  to  do 
away  with  the  dirty  practice  of  using  saliva  in  connection  with 
the  blacking  of  boots  and  shoes.  When  we  see  men  in  cars  put- 
ting their  odoriferous  shoes  in  disrespectful  proximity  to  ladies, 
we  often  have  occasion  to  reflect  how  much  faster  the  material 
prosperity  of  the  country  is  proceeding  than  what  should  be  its 
accompaniment  in  good  manners. 

Bromidrosis  may  be  physiological,  appertaining  to  healthy 
function,  or  pathological,  appertaining  to  diseased  function.  An 
instance  of  the  former  condition  may  be  observed  in  the  pure 
Negro,  and,  as  we  individually  believe,  markedly  to  some  degree 
in  the  North  American  Indian  and  in  some  other  races,  although 
the  fact  is  not  generally  known.  When  the  condition  is  patho- 
logical it  may  be  constitutional,  or  it  may  be  temporaiy,  and  it 
may  in  any  case  be  general  or  local.  The  commonest  form  of 
the  affection  is,  as  we  remarked,  as  localized, and  the  localit}7  of 
its  predilection  and  most  unfortunate  choice,  the  feet.  When 
reaching  a  certain  degree  of  virulence,  the  excretions  become 
most  irritating  to  the  flesh,  which  is  excoriated  and  tender  to 
the  pressure  of  the  weight  of  the  body  in  standing.  If  the  affec- 
tion be  physiological,  or  be  individually  constitutional,  frequent 
ablution  with  one  or  other  of  the  soaps  recommended  for  that 
purpose  in  our  list  of  medicated  soaps  and  frequent  change  of 
clothing  will  afford  relief.  If,  on  the  contrary,  the  affection  be 
distinctly  a  disease,  recourse  should  be  had  to  the  advice  of  a 


274  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL  I5EAUTY. 

physician, as  t  Ik-  treatment  thai  should  be  adopted  depends  upon 
too  many  conditions  to  warrant  giving  :•  genera]  prescription  for 
what  is,  of  necessity,  in  every  instance  a  special  case. 

There  is  also  a  disease  called  byperidrosis,  characterized  by 
copious,  not  fetid,  sweating,  which,  as  it  sometimes  involves  the 
lint,  should  not  escape  notice  here.  For  this  thesufl'erer  should 
go  to  a  regular  physician  for  constitutional  treatment,  for  no 
man  is  in  all  respects  as  any  other  man  in  either  health  or  sick- 
ness. In  this  disease  frequent  bathing  is  not  indicated,  but  only 
occasional  bathing  of  the  parts  in  hot  water,  with  the  use  of  dust- 
ing  powders  and  other  external  combined  with  internal  remedial 
measures,  which  no  one  but  a  regular  physician,  with  the  patient 
before  him  and  a  full  history  of  his  case,  is  equal  to  judieiously 
prescribing. 

Every  man  has  his  idiosyncrasy  within  a  general  likeness  in 
temperament  to  other  persons.  He  has  his  past  history,  which  is 
exactly  like  no  one  else's.  And  he  has  his  present  condition, 
which  is  identical  with  no  one  else's.  This  disease  is  most 
erratic  in  its  manifestation.  It  may  be  general  or  local,  may  be 
on  one  side  or  both,  may  be  strictly  localized  without  reference 
to  side,  and,  finally,  may  be  one  of  the  signs  of  much  more  serious 
affections,  such  as  consumption,  nervous  prostration,  etc.  The 
copious  exudations  caused  by  it  frequently  prove  very  annoying, 
and  proceeding  beyond  that  point,  especially  when  the  feet  are 
attacked,  they  macerate  the  flesh  and  expose  raw  and  painful 
surfaces  of  the  cor i urn.  We  counsel  any  one  wdio  is  afflicted 
with  the  disease  to  resort  at  once  to  a  physician  for  his  advice. 
A  friend  of  ours,  who  makes  in  consultation  witli  us  a  great 
many  experiments  for  discovering  curative  effects  in  electricity, 
has  lately  communicated  to  us  what  may  prove  an  invaluable 
treatment  for  hyperidrosis.  He  suppressed,  witli  one  or  two 
mild  applications  of  the  galvanic  current,  directly  to  the  parts, 
by  means  of  the  sponge-covered  poles  of  a  battery, a  long-standing, 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE   AND   TREATMENT   OF   THE   FEET.  275 

persistent  case  of  localized  hyperidrosis.  We  are  inclined  to 
believe  that  this  treatment  will  prove  universally  palliative  or 
curative  in  the  afl>ction,from  the  fact  of  our  holding  the  modern 
medical  view,  that  such  morbid  conditions  as  are  represented  by 
this  disease  depend  upon  a  lowering  of  the  nerve  tone,  which  the 
galvanic  current,  judiciously  administered,  certainly  tends  to 
restore. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   CONSTITUTION,  GROWTH,  AND   DISEASES  OF   THE   NAILS. 

A  DESCRIPTION  of  the  constitution,  growth,  and  diseases 
of  the  nails  naturally  follows  an  account  of  the  cosmetic 
care  and  treatment  of  the  hands  and  feet,  for  the  nail  is  subject 
to  unhealthiness,  not  only  from  partaking  of  loss  of  tone  with 
the  general  system,  but  from  specific  disease,  from  the  action  of 
powerful  chemical  agents,  and  from  mechanical  injuries.  We 
mentioned,  in  the  chapter  on  the  cosmetic  care  and  treatment  of 
the  hands,  our  own  individual  experience  with  the  nails,  in  tem- 
porarily injuring  their  healthy  nutrition  through  incautiously- 
dabbling  for  several  months  in  water  highly  acidulated  with 
sulphuric  acid.  If  a  cause  like  this  could  affect  nails  unfavor- 
ably, it  can  easily  be  realized  that  many  others  of  which  the 
reader  may  at  present  have  no  knowledge  would  seriously  injure 
them. 

We  have  learned,  in  connection  with  our  examination  of  the 
constitution  and  growth  of  the  skin,  that  that  portion  of  it  called 
the  scarf-skin  is  pierced  up  to  the  under  side  of  its  horny  layer 
by  microscopic  papillae  that  rise  from  the  surface  of  the  corium, 
the  sensitive  skin,  the  true  skin.  In  fact,  these  minute  papillae 
with  single  nerves  may  justly  be  regarded,  so  numerous  and 
close  together  are  they,  besides  being  constituted  like  the  corium, 
as  a  large  extension  of  the  corium  upward  to  the  under  surface 
of  the  horn}'  layer  of  the  scarf-skin.  Now,  the  nail  is  only  a 
modified  form  of  the  horny  layer  of  the  scarf-skin,  and  the  nail- 
bed  is  the.  mucous  layer  re-in forced  by  the  corium  in  parallel 
"folds,  instead  of  the  corium  with,  as  usual,  a  smooth  general 
surface  from  which  papillae  rise.  The  nature  of  the  struc- 
tures  and    forces   in   play   is   virtually  the   same ;   it   is   their 

(277) 


278  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

arrangement  and  deployment  that  are  different,  and  the  modifi- 
cation resulting  is  the  exaggeration  of  the  horny  element  of  the 
scarf-skin.     Thai   is  to  say,  in   a   word,  that,  regarding  solely 

the  principle  of  the  mode  of  generation  of  the  scarf-skin,  the 
principle  is  found  to  be  the  same  in  the  generation  of  the 
nail,  and  the  nail  corresponds  with  the  horny  layer  of  the 
scarf-skin. 

The  corinm,  or  sensitive  layer  of  the  skin,  is  arranged  in 
parallel  ridges  running  lengthwise  under  the  nail,  serving  not 
only  to  receive  through  it  the  sensation  of  touch,  but  to  supply 
to  it,  through  the  mucous  layer  of  the  scarf-skin,  the  elements  for 
its  increase  in  thickness.  It  follows  from  the  fact  that  the  nail- 
bed  lies  in  parallel  ridges  and  valleys  of  the  corium,  and  the  other 
fact  that  this  peculiarly  constructed  surface  it  is  which  is  affording 
to  the  lower  side  of  the  nail  its  elements  of  growth,  that  the  under 
surface  of  the  nail  is  formed  as  if  cast  in  the  mold  of  the  ridges 
and  valleys  of  the  underlying  corium.  That  is  exactly  the  case, 
the  ridges  of  the  corium  corresponding  to  depressions  of  nail, 
and  the  valle3rs  of  the  corium  to  ridges  of  nail.  Examine  the 
relatively  smooth  surface  of  the  outside  surface  of  the  nail,  and 
you  will  perceive  upon  it  longitudinal  parallel  striations  or  streaks 
differing  slightly  in  tint.  The  pinker  ones  represent  ridges  of 
the  highly  vascular  corium  rising  into  a  groove  of  the  nail-sub- 
stance, and  the  paler  ones  the  base  of  ridges  of  the  nail-substance 
filling  grooves  of  the  corium.  The  cause  of  this  difference  of 
appearance  in  the  different  lines  of  striation  is  that  in  the  former 
case  you  see  the  red  corium  through  less  thickness  of  horny 
matter  than  3rou  do  in  the  latter  case. 

The  matrix,  or  root,  of  the  nail  is  embedded  in  a  fold  of 
the  skin.  In  the  case  of  the  adult  thumb,  it  lies  back  of  the 
visible  part  of  the  nail  to  the  rear  by  about  a  tenth  of  an  inch. 
Just  in  advance  of  the  matrix  comes  the  little  white  half-moon 
called  the  lunula.     Beyond  that  comes  the  general  nail-surface, 


CONSTITUTION,  GROWTH,  AND   DISEASES   OF   THE   NAILS.  279 

partially  directed  in   its  onward  course  of  growth   by  the  nail- 
groove,  as  it  is  called,  which  frames  its  sides  with  folds  of  skin. 

Let  us  now  examine  more  particularly  into  the  nail's  mode 
of  growth  in  length  and  thickness,  for,  as  is  inferable  from  what 
has  been  said,  it  does  not  start  out  from  the  matrix  full-grown  in 
thickness,  but  grows  in  thickness  as  well  as  in  length  until  it 
passes  beyond  the  nail-bed.  Its  growth  in  length  is  determined 
by  the  capacity  of  the  individual  matrix,  included  within  the 
bounds  which  nature  has  set  for  range  of  growth  in  nails.  The 
nail  starts  forward  in  its  growth  in  length,  perforce  of  the  forma- 
tion of  its  characteristic  cells  by  the  matrix.  That  is  to  say,  the 
generative  agency  is  also  the  propelling  agency,  for,  as  the  matrix 
forms  the  cells  and  continues  to  form  them,  the  nail  thus  created 
must  move  on  the  line  of  least  resistance,  and  that  is  obviously 
directly  away  from  the  matrix,  along  the  corium-grooves  and 
the  nail-groove.  The  nail-bed,  in  generating  and  nourishing 
the  lower  surface  of  the  nail,  having  increased  its  thickness  and 
given  it  a  formation  corresponding  to  its  own,  the  nail  readity 
obeys  the  impulse  to  move  forward  given  by  the  multiplication 
of  cells  at  the  matrix.  It  is,  moreover,  rigidly  confined  to  this 
course,  through  the  fact  that  the  corium,  lying  lengthwise  in 
ridges  parallel  to  the  bed  of  the  nails,  therebjT  forms  parallel 
tracks  from  which  the  nail  cannot  escape. 

Where  we  see  the  lunula  the  nail  is  quite  thin,  its  tendency 
to  growth  in  thickness  being  comparatively  slight  there,  the 
whiteness  of  the  lunula  indicating  the  comparatively  small 
vascular  supply  there,  vascular  supply  being  strictly  propor- 
tioned to  increase  of  animal  tissue,  whether  of  health}'  or 
morbid  growth.  But,  immediately  bej-ond  the  lunula  the  nail 
evidences,  through  its  ros}-  hue,  the  existence  of  rich  vascular 
supply  to  that  portion  of  it,  and  over  that  portion  it  is  that  it 
receives  the  main  contribution  to  its  thickness. 

It  will  now  be  understood  wlrv  the  nail  is  so  sensitive. 


280  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

Although  the  ridges  and  valleys  of  sensitive  skin  into  which  the 
nail  fits  are  shielded  by  the  dense  mass  of  the  horny  matter  of 
the  nail,  they  are  still  capable  of  receiving  the  most,  accurate 
transmission  known  of  the  character  of  one  physical  condition 
of  matter. — snioot  htiess.  This  was  so  well  known  to  the 
Romans,  that  they  spoke  of  nicety  of  finish  to  a  superlative 
degree  as  we  speak  of  a  thing  as  being  accurate  to  a  hair,  by 
saying  that  it  was  finished  "</  unguem,  to  the  touch  of  the  nail. 
The  Greeks  had  the  same  perception,  and  used  a  similar  expres- 
sion. The  Greeks,  and  the  Romans  following-  them,  tested  all 
exquisite  finish  with  the.  thumb-nail,  the  final  fleck  in  modeling 
in  clay  being  removed  with  the  thumb-nail,  and  the  finished 
piece  of  statuary  1  icing  regarded  as  perfect  only  after  having 
been  submitted  to  the  test  of  passing  over  doubtful  parts  the 
critical  and  appreciative  thumb-nail.  We  have  often  experi- 
mented with  this  test,  and  have  found  it  a  crucial  one  as  to 
smoothness.  Run  the  middle  of  the  end  of  the  thumb-nail  over 
any  surface  which  you  regard  as  virtually  smooth,  and  if  there 
is  the  most  minute  eccentricity  upon  it,  the  jar  to  the  end  of  the 
nail  will  be  communicated  accurately  to  the  sensitive  skin 
beneath  the  nail,  and  accurately  registered  in  the  brain,  even  to 
the  point  of  definition  of  the  size  and  shape  of  the  obstruction. 
We  have  often  observed  carpenters,  painters,  and  other  work- 
men, who  certainly  have  not  all  familiarized  themselves  with  the 
practices  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  artificers,  automatically 
examining  surfaces  with  the  thumb-nail,  as  if  the  movements 
were  strictl}'  instinctive. 

The  white  marks  which  one  sometimes  observes  on  the  nail 
are  not  primarily  from  a  defect  in  the  nail-substance,  but  from 
one  in  the  corium  beneath  it.  The  corium,  having  received  some 
slight  injur}7,  ceased  for  a  brief  space  of  time,  while  it  was  re- 
covering, to  yield  through  the  mucous  layer  at  that  point,  which 
has  passed  onward  since,  a  normal  supply  of  nail-substance. 


CONSTITUTION,  GROWTH,  AND   DISEASES  OF   THE    NAILS.         281 

Mechanical  injury  to  the  great-toe  nail  is  of  very  common 
occurrence.  The  wearing  of  shoes  that  are  too  short,  and 
especially  of  those  which  have  at  the  same  time  high  heels,  in 
consequence  of  which  the  weight  of  the  body  is  partially 
supported  by  the  point  of  the  great-toe,  often  restrains  to  such  a 
degree  the  growth  of  its  nail,  while  jamming  the  root  into  the 
socket  of  its  matrix,  as  to  force  it  to  grow  laterally,  and  either 
produce  the  very  painful  affection  of  an  ingrowing  nail,  or 
abolish  the  power  of  cell-proliferation  at  the  matrix,  or  perhaps 
accomplish  both  of  these  results  simultaneousl}*-.  These  affec- 
tions are  never  radically  cured  until,  through  rest  and  proper 
remedial  medical  measures,  the  normal  function  of  nail-growth  is 
restored,  and  this,  in  the  case  of  the  complete  abolishment  of 
cell-formation  at  the  matrix,  it  is  impossible  to  restore,  and  the 
sufferer  remains,  through  thickening  of  the  nail  without  any 
forward  progress  of  it,  more  or  less  of  a  cripple  all  through  life. 
The  reader  can  understand,  upon  the  basis  of  information 
previous^  conveyed  here,  that  this  condition  must  supervene 
from  serious  injury  to  the  matrix.  Because  the  capacity  of  the 
matrix  to  generate  cells  and  push  the  nail  forward  is  abolished, 
that  does  not  affect  the  capacity  of  the  mucous  layer  of  the 
scarf-skin  and  the  corium  beneath  the  nail  to  go  on  indefinitely 
increasing  it  in  thickness.  Under  the  circumstances  supposed, 
the  nail  grows  from  below,  layer  by.  layer  in  thickness,  until  it 
makes  an  enormous  mass,  becoming  thus  an  essentially  foreign 
body,  so  large  and  painful  as  to  forbid  the  wearing  of  an  ordi- 
nary shoe.  Sometimes  one  of  these  enormous  masses  is  shed, 
sometimes  one  of  them  requires  surgical  interference  for  its 
removal.  Some  diseases  of  the  great-toe  nail  necessitate  its 
extirpation.  We  knew  an  old  lad}7  who  suffered  during  the 
latter  years  of  her  life  the  greatest  torture  from  her  feet,  the 
condition  of  which  was  not  known  until  her  demise,  when  it  was 
discovered  that  the  thickness  of  her  great-toe  nails  was  enormous. 


282  HEREDITY,    HEALTH.    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

These  huge  masses  of  nail,  of  which,  of  course,  the  topmost 
layer  is  the  oldest,  and  sometimes  truly  ancient,  are  yellow, 
lustreless,  friable,  like  pieces  of  refuse  horn.  Dr.  Erasmus 
Wilson  Bays,  in  his  chapter  on  the  nails,  in  his  admirable  little 

work  on  the  skin  and  hair  : — 

I  know  an  instance  in  which  the  nail  is  regularly  Bhed;  whenever  Che  old 
one  folia  off,  a  new  one  being  found  beneath  it.  Sometimes  growth  in  length  is 
ii<>t  entirely  checked,  although  growth  in  thickness  is  induced,  and  then  we  get 
Borne  marvelous  specimens  of  toe-nails.  I  have  several  such  in  my  possession, 
one  being  fully  two  inches  long. 

The  nail  shares  in  the  well-  or  ill- being  of  its  possessor.  In 
cases  of  long-continued  depression  of  the  general  system,  it,  as 
well  as  the  hair,  changes  so  radically  in  appearance  as  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  most  casual  observer.  In  lesser  degree  of 
sickness,  or  in  that  which  is  merely  temporary,  its  varying  con- 
dition is  significant  to  the  more  critical  medical  e3re.  In  treating 
affections  of  the  nail,  whether  they  amount  to  marked  disease 
or  merely  to  depraved  condition,  constitutional  treatment 
should  not  be  neglected.  This  means  that  all  hygienic  measures 
should  be  adopted  in  food,  air,  exercise,  etc.,  and,  in  addition, 
that  some  tonic  should  be  prescribed. 

The  nail  is  affected  by,  or,  more  preciseW  speaking,  partici- 
pates in  constitutional  defects  of  the  general  system.  Its 
appearance  in  persons  of  pronounced  consumptive  diathesis  is 
quite  as  characteristic  as  ie  the  appearance  of  their  teeth  and 
hair.  It  is  affected  by  acute  and  chronic  diseases.  It  is  also 
liable  to  its  own  localized  diseases,  whether  organic  or  functional. 
Three  of  these,  besides  that  already  described  in  detail,  are 
onychogryphosis,  paronychia,  and  onychomycosis. 

Onychogryphosis  is  simply  an  organic  defect  in  the  shape 
of  the  nail,  which  grows  with  a  decided  curve  from  front  to  rear, 
giving  it  the  appearance  of  a  talon.  It  was  in  view  of  the  un- 
sightly effect  produced  by  this  form  of  nail,  even  when  existing 
in  only  slight  degree,  that  we  were  led,  in  the  chapter  on  the 


CONSTITUTION,  GROWTH,  AND   DISEASES   OF   THE    NAILS.  283 

cosmetic  care  and  treatment  of  the  hands,  to  caution  persons 
having  it,  to  however  slight  a  degree,  to  be  especially  careful  to 
keep  the  nails  well  trimmed.  The  truly-formed  nail  has  no 
marked  curvature  from  front  to  rear.  It  curves  only  from  side 
to  side,  and  that  curve  is  a  flattened  one.  Nothyig  can  be  more 
repulsive  than  the  appearance  of  the  nails  of  a  person  who,  with 
curvature  in  them  from  front  to  rear,  associated,  as  it  always  is, 
with  too  sharp  a  curve  from  side  to  side,  allows  them  to  grow 
beyond  the  end  of  the  finger,  thus  producing  the  effect  of  a 
veritable  claw.  Of  course,  there  is  no  possibility  of  rectifying 
the  defect  of  this  organic  growth.  All  that  any  one  can  do  is 
to  palliate  the  condition,  by  being  careful,  through  paring  the 
nails,  not  to  let  its  effect  be  intensified. 

Paronychia  has  been,  in  modern  usage,  divided  into  four 
varieties,  of  which  one  is  what  is  popularly  known  as  "run- 
round,"  the  other  three  being  resolvable  into  what  are  known  as 
different  stages  of  whitlow. 

Onychomycosis  is  a  parasitic  fungous  disease.  When  the 
fungus  which  represents  the  disease  pre}Ts  upon  the  nails,  they 
lose  their  translucencj^  and  become  laminated  and  brittle.  Both 
the  nail  and  the  nail-bed  are  diseased  through  their  penetration 
by  the  fungous  growth,  the  nail,  as  a  whole,  becoming  bulkier  and 
tending  to  disintegrate.  Of  course,  it  will  be  understood  that, 
as  a  general  rule,  the  invasion  of  a  fungus  means  previously- 
lessened  resistance  through  imperfect  functioning  of  the  parts. 

The  moral  of  all  that  has  been  said  in  this  chapter  is,  that 
if  we  would  not  risk  a  greater  fall  to  our  vanit}7-  than  ever  it  had 
rise,  which,  although  a  physical  impossibility,  is  not  a  moral  one, 
let  us  look  out  for  our  toes. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  CONSTITUTION   AND  GROWTH   OP   THE   HAIR. 

THE  reader  may  be  surprised  when  told  that  the  hair,  as  well 
as  the  nails,  is  a  modification  of  the  scarf-skin.  It  is 
nevertheless  true,  as  the  human  eye,  aided  by  the  mici'oscope, 
proves.  Attention  to  the  following  general  description  of  the 
main  features  of  the  constitution  and  growth  of  the  hair  will  be 
amply  repaid  by  knowledge  valuable  as  a  protection  against  the 
charlatanism  of  ignorant  instruction  as  to  the  care  of  this  im- 
portant adjunct  of  the  body. 

The  hair  on  the  person  is  distinguished,  even  by  the  naked 
eye,  as  consisting  of  four  different  varieties.  The  first  and  most 
important  of  these  is  the  long,  smooth,  and  pliant  hair  of  the 
head.  The  second  is  the  shorter  and  coarser  hair  on  the  face 
of  the  adult  of  the  male  sex,  and,  on  the  adults  of  both  sexes, 
under  the  armpit  and  on  the  pubic  parts.  The  third  is  the  still 
shorter  and  coarser  hair  of  the  eyebrows,  eyelashes,  nostrils,  and 
orifice  of  the  ears.  The  fourth  is  the  exceedingly  short  and  fine 
hair,  called  lanugo,  which,  almost  imperceptibly  to  the  naked 
eye,  covers  the  general  surface  of  the  body,  with  the  exception 
of  the  palms  of  the  hands,  the  soles  of  the  feet,  the  lips,  and 
the  mucous-membrane  passages  into  the  body.  These  varieties 
exhibit  slight  organic  differences  among  themselves,  as  indicated 
by  their  constitution  and  growth,  but  not  sufficient  to  invite 
attention  here  to  an  examination  of  their  similarities  and  dis- 
similarities. It  will  be,  for  the  information  of  the  general  reader, 
enough  if  we  confine  ourselves  to  the  consideration  of  the 
character  and  growth  of  the  hair  of  the  head,  as  the  highest 
type  of  similar  products  of  the  body. 

It  is  from  rude  conceptions  of  material  things  that  we  rise 

(285) 


286  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

to  our  highest  conceptions  of  them.  Our  preliminary  concep- 
tion is,  in  fact,  nothing-  but  a  summoning  before  mental  vision 
of  one  oi'  our  previous  rude  perceptions.  These  rude  percep- 
tions are,  in  turn,  through  an  intellectual  process,  transformed 
into  conceptions  representing  a  higher  order  of  perception.  We 
are  about  incidentally  to  illustrate  this  truth,  by  remarking  that 
the  reader  must  first  of  all  conceive  of  the  place  whence  the  hair 
grows  as  a  vase, — a  longish  vase,  with  a  narrow  neck,  and  a 
slightly  flaring  funnel-like  rim,  the  lines  all  flowing  gently  into 
each  other  without  the  slightest  abruptness,  and  the  rim  of  the 
vase  melting,  as  it  were,  into  the  upper  surface  of  the  scalp  of 
'  the  head.  That  is  a  veiy  rude  conception,  truly,  to  begin  with, 
but  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  begin  there,  if  one  would  finally 
comprehend  this  formation,  which  we  are  about  to  describe. 
We  rise  to  knowledge  from  the  foot-hold  of  what  we  have  seen 
or  touched  and  know,  not  from  what,  being  the  unseen  and 
untouched,  we  do  not  and  cannot  know. 

Let  us  now,  as  the  next  step,  refine  upon  this  conception  of 
a  reminiscence  of  a  former  perception,  b}r  saying  that  this  vase 
is  so  minute,  that  if  one  could  submit  a  man  and  it  to  the  same 
magnifying  power,  of  about  fifty  times  of  apparent  increase  in 
size,  the  man  would  look  about  three  hundred  feet  high.  JSTow 
our  vase  disappears  as  the  rude  conception  that  it  was  at  first, 
and  we  have  left  in  the  imagination  simply  a  microscopic  form 
defined  by  an  outline  of  matter  of  some  unknown  kind,  which 
remains  to  be  described.  That  is  the  vessel,  so  to  speak,  in 
which  an  individual  hair  grows,  just  as  a  flower  grows  in  a 
flower-pot. 

Here  we  have  again  a  rude  conception  from  which  to  start, 
in  the  expression,  "just  as  a  flower  grows  in  a  flower-pot,"  from 
which  conception  we  must  mount,  as  before,  to  a  higher  plane 
of  understanding.  At  the  very  bottom  of  this  inclosing  vessel, 
called  a  follicle,  formed  of  an  inner  and  outer  sheath  in  contact 


THE    CONSTITUTION    AND    GROWTH    OF    THE    HAIR.  287 

with  each  other,  is  embedded  and  slightly  protruded  through 
the  bottom  the  germ  called  the  papilla  of  the  hair.  This  papilla 
is  entirely  enclosed  and  clasped  by  the  bulb  of  the  hair,  a  round- 
ing, pear-shaped  object,  with  the  large  end  upward,  :m<l  from 
this  rises  the  root  of  the  hair,  and  from  this,  in  turn,  at  the 
surface  of  the  scalp,  rises  the  shaft  of  the  hair,  or  what  is  called 
simply  a  hair. 

Let  us  now,  upon  our  present  basis,  refine  still  further  upon 
our  conception.  We  have  now  the  root-sheaths  of  the  vase-like 
vessel,  corresponding  to  the  flower-pot ;  the  papilla,  correspond- 
ing to  the  seed ;  the  bulb,  corresponding  to  the  first  bursting  of 
the  seed;  the  root,  corresponding  to  the  first  determinate  upward 
growth  within  the  soil ;  and  the  hair-shaft,  corresponding  to  the 
stem  of  a  plant  above  the  ground.  But,  now  are  to  be  noted 
important  differences  in  the  growth  between  such  a  vegetable 
product  as  that  indicated  and  the  animal  product  of  a  hair. 
Excepting  at  the  point  where  the  hair  escapes  from  the  scalp, 
we  must  not  imagine  the  parts  described  to  be  loosely  bound 
together.  On  the  contrary,  the  papilla,  the  bulb,  and  the  root 
of  the  hair  are  all  closely  invested  by  the  inner  and  outer  root- 
sheaths.  So,  in  this  organic  apparatus,  we  have,  not  as  in  the 
case  of  a  flower-pot,  an  inert  mass  of  matter,  the  stem  of  a  plant 
growing  from  a  seed  ;  but  a  seed,  bulb,  root,  and  containing-vessel, 
all  vitalty  combining  for  the  production  of  a  single  plant — a  hair. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  understand  the  minuter  details  of 
this  structure.  We  will  not  go  into  the  question  of  the  minutest 
of  them,  for  those  are  derived  from  histological  research  with 
the  microscope,  which  discerns  that  the  cells  from  the  hair-bulb 
change  in  constitution  and  shape  to  fit  them  for  positions  which 
the}'  occupy  in  the  hair-shaft.  This  constitution,  omitting  the 
mode  of  its  formation,  we  will  now  proceed  in  general  terms  to 
describe. 

If  we  could  express  the  first  idea  necessary  to  be  seized,  to 


283  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

enable  us  to  proceed,  by  any  other  term  than  "  invaginate,"  we 

would  do  so  with  pleasure,  but,  as  there  is  no  popular  equivalent 
for  the  term,  we  begin  by  explaining  its  meaning-.  If  you  thrust 
your  fore-finger  into  a  lump  of  dough,  the  inner  surface  of  the 
hole  made  would  not  be  invaginated,  because  the  outer  surface, 
excepl  at  the  point  of  the  finger,  would  not  have  been  conveyed 
into  the  hole.  If,  however,  you  take  an  imperfectly  inflated 
India-rubber  ball,  and  make  a  dent  in  it,  the  interior  of  the  dent 
is  invaginated,  because  it  possesses  a  surface  like  the  general 
surface,  and  continuous  with  it. 

Now,  the  root-sheaths  of  the  hair  and  the  hair  itself  are 
simply  the  scarf-skin  and  corium  of  the  scalp  invaginated  in  the 
scalp  and  modified.  Thus  economical  is  nature  in  its  works  in 
the  expenditure  of  material  and  force.  The  scalp  of  the  head 
simply  dips  inward  in  a  multitude  of  places  over  the  head  (on 
an  average,  about  100,000),  and  forms  the  wherewithal,  in  struc- 
ture and  function,  for  the  production  on  the  head  of  its  valuable 
covering.  The  reader,  now  firmly  grasping  the  idea  that  the 
epidermis  and  the  corium,  in  their  relative  positions,  dip  into 
the  scalp,  and  make  the  follicle  and  hair,  is  in  possession  of  the 
main  facts  connected  with  this  growth. 

The  cells  of  the  bulb  of  the  hair  are  continuous  with  those 
of  the  outer  root-sheath.  If  the  reader  demur  at  this  statement, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  has  been  said  that  the  bulb  is  at  the 
very  bottom  of  the  inside  of  the  root-sheaths,  we  explain  that, 
at  the  bottom,  the  inner  root-sheath  has  been  fined  away  to  noth- . 
ing.  The  inner  root-sheath,  in  fact,  is  generated  by  the  cells  of 
the  root,  which,  the  reader  will  remember,  surmounts  the  bulb, 
and  we  may  add  that  it  is  also  fined  away  to  nothing  at  the  neck 
of  the  follicle.  It  is  in  so  intimate  contact  with  the  root  of  the 
hair  that  we  cannot  pull  out  a  living  hair  without  pulling  with  it 
the  major  portion  of  the  inner  root-sheath.  As  it  ends  before  it 
reaches  the  bottom  of  the  outer  root-sheath,  and  also  ends  before 


THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  GROWTH  OF  THE  HA  III.       289 

the  follicle  emerges  into  the  open  air,  and,  as  the  root  is  so 
closely  invested  by  it,  the  reader  cannot  fail  to  see  why,  in  pull- 
ing out  a  hair,  the  inner  root-sheath  should  be  withdrawn  with 
the  hair  from  the  follicle. 

Immediately  on  top  of  the  hair-papilla,  as  it  lies  inclosed 
within  the  bulb  of  the  hair,  takes'  place  the  most  energetic  pro- 
liferation (production  and  sending  forth)  of  the  cells  which  form 
the  root  of  the  hair,  this  action  resulting  in  a  formation  which 
is  the  same  in  constitution  as  the  hair-shaft  itself.  This  consists 
of  the  medulla,  or  pith  of  the  hair ;  the  cortical  substance,  or 
bark  of  the  hair ;  and  the  thin  cuticle,  or  horny  outside  layer  of 
the  hair.  The  medulla  is  composed  of  many-sided  cells ;  the 
cortical  substance,  of  fibrous  cells  fastened  together  with  a 
cement-substance ;  and  the  cuticle,  of  cells  which  begin  at  the 
root  of  the  hair  as  rounded,  and  become  elongated  as  thejr 
ascend  the  root  of  the  hair  and  thence  become  part  of  its  shaft. 
The  cells  on  the  hair-shaft  overlap  each  other  like  tiles  upon  a 
house.  On  exquisitely  fine  hair  the  positions  of  the  overlapping 
points  cannot  be  detected  by  the  sense  of  touch,  but  if  one  will 
take  a  coarse  hair,  such  as  a  hair  from  the  beard,  and  pull  it 
through  between  the  middle  of  the  thumb-nail  and  the  end  of 
the  fore-finger,  tightly  clasping  it  throughout  its  course,  their 
position  in  places  will  be  distinctly  felt. 

The  medulla  and  cortical  substance  are  not  conspicuous  in 
all  hairs,  the  cortical  substance  containing  the  chief  part  of  the 
coloring  matter  of  the  hair.  The  medulla  is  supposed  to  be 
actually  absent  in  certain  hairs,  but  not  those  of  the  head.  \Te 
think  it  probable,  however,  putting  out  of  question  for  a  moment 
the  hair  of  the  head,  that  it  is  often  present  as  to  structure,  but 
not  recognized,  through  absence  of  nucleation  in  cells,  as  being 
in  existence.  Sometimes,  on  the  contrary,  as  in  the  hair  of  cer- 
tain of  the  lower  animals,  the  cortical  substance  is  in  excess,  the 
two  outer  layers  forming  a  mere  film. 


290  HEREDITY,    HEALTH.    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

Certain  facts  seem  to  warrant  the  supposition  that  the 
medulla  may  sometimes  be  invisible,  of  ■which  we  here  set  down 
one  or  two  examples.  Some  caterpillar-hair,  which  we  Lately 
examined  under  a  high  power  ol*  the  microscope,  was  to  the 
microscope,  as  well  as  to  the  naked  eye,  colored  in  alternate 
1  muds  of  Mack  and  maroon  color.  Under  the  microscope,  the 
dark  part  on  an  individual  hair  seemed  to  be  such  solely 
because  it  was  highly  corticated  and  medullated.  As  an  abnormal 
affection,  the  same  condition  in  an  irregular  form  is  sometimes 
observable  in  human  hair.  "We  see  the  same  phenomenon  in 
the  porcupine-quill,  in  feathers,  and  elsewhere.  In  all  of  these 
cases  the  construction  to  serve  cortication  and  medullation  is 
probably  always  present,  but  we  do  not  in  places  see  it  as  such, 
because  it  is  not  differentiated  from  the  others  by  stain  from 
pigment. 

In  some  fine  blond  hair  of  a  child  which  we  lately  examined 
under  a  high  power  of  the  microscope,  the  medulla  .and  cortical 
substance  hardly  differed  in  color  from  the  outside  of  the  hair. 
In  the  hair  from  a  black  beard,  experimented  upon  at  the  same 
time,  the  appearance  of  the  medulla  and  cortical  substance  so 
preponderated  that  the  cuticle  of  the  hair  would  not  have  been 
visible  but  for  perception  of  the  shape  of  its  scales.  One  of  the 
most  curious  results  of  some  of  our  late  examinations  of  hairs 
under  a  high  microscopic  power  was  that  resulting  from  com- 
parison of  hair  from  different  portions  of  a  Yorkshire  terrier. 
The  Yorkshire  terrier  has,  as  is  well  known,  a  dark-blue  back 
and  fox-colored  parts  elsewhere,  except  on  top  of  the  head,  where 
the  color  of  the  hair  becomes  almost  blond.  Several  things  dis- 
covered we  were  not  prepared  to  find.  First  of  all,  the  thick- 
ness of  the  blue  hair  is  enormous  as  compared  with  the  thickness 
of  the  fox-colored  hair.  Secondty,  the  hair  on  top  of  the  head, 
which  has  the  feeling  of  floss-silk  to  the  touch,  is  even  finer  than 
that,  and  finer  than  the  finest  human  hair,  excepting,  of  course, 


THE   CONSTITUTION    AND   GROWTH    OF   THE    HAIR.  291 

the  first  growth  at  birth.  We  had  expected  to  find  the  appear- 
ance of  the  blue  in  the 'blue  hair  considerably  modified  in  appear- 
ance as  enormously  magnified,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  remained 
as  blue  as  before  to  the  sight,  with  an  undertone  of  purple.  The 
fine  hair  on  the  head  seemed  to  be  absolutely  without  medulla 
and  cortical  substance, — to  be  homogeneous  throughout.  It 
looked  like  the  finest  strand  of  glass  just  tinged  with  the  most 
exquisite  3'ellow.  Therefore,  the  fact  is  that  it  was  colored,  as 
it  was  colored  j'ellow ;  and,  as  the  medulla  and  cortical  sub- 
stance, not  the  cuticle  of  the  hair,  are  the  vehicles  of  color, 
we  cannot  escape  the  conclusion  that  many  hairs  which  are 
believed  to  have  no  medulla  may  possess  the  structure  not  visibly 
present,  and  they  certainly  must  possess  cortical  substance. 

It  is  easy  to  see,  from  what  has  been  said  here  and  in  the 
preceding  chapter  on  the  skin,  why,  under  certain  conditions, 
refraction  and  diffraction  spectra  are  formed  by  the  hair.  We 
have  sometimes  seen  in  the  curve  of  a  horse's  neck,  just  above 
the  fore-shoulder,  when  it  was  standing  in  a  blaze  of  sunlight, 
the  most  beautiful  prismatic  effects.  Here  are  the  conditions 
necessary  to  the  phenomenon, — the  direct,  white  rays  of  the 
sun ;  the  concave  depression  in  the  neck,  making  the  hairs  stand 
at  various  angles ;  the  three  kinds  of  cellular  formation  in  the 
shafts  of  the  hairs;  the  coloring  matter  in  the  cells  forming  the 
shafts.  The  white  light  is  broken  up  by  refraction  and  diffrac- 
tion into  rays  of  different  wave-lengths,  and  consequently 
different  colors,  and  they  are  thus  reflected  to  the  eye.  Similar 
effects,  of  less  intensity,  may  sometimes  be  seen  on  the  convexity 
formed  by  the  glossy  croup  and  the  concavity  of  the  neighboring 
parts  of  the  flanks  of  well-groomed  horses. 

In  speaking  of  the  coloring  matter  of  the  hair  as  conveying 
its  effect,  we  should  add  that  what  is  referred  to  is  its  main 
effect.  It  has  long  been  known  that  extremely  minute  vacant 
spaces  exist  in  the  hair,  called  vacuoles,  filled  with  air  or  some 


292  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

other  gas.  This  physical  condition,  combined  with  color,  goes 
to  i)r. "luce  the  final  effect  of  the  Lair  upon  the  eye.  There  are 
probably  still  other  factors  thai  go  to  produce  the  final  effect. 
Every  one  has  observed  that  the  handsomesl  liair  is  not  that 
which  has  uniform  tint  and  lustre  throughout,  but  that  which 
has  glinting  surfaces,  which  enhance  while  harmonizing  with 
the  general  effect.  This  accounts  for  the  fact  that  black  hair,  or 
very  dark  hair  that  is  almost  black,  is  never  so  handsome  as  hair 
of*  lighter  color.  There  is  in  it  very  Little,  if  any,  transmitted 
light.  We  see  it  virtually  by  reflected  light  from  its  surface,  not 
by  light  which  permeates  it  and  is  then  reflected,  blended  with 
other  light  which  is  reflected  without  having  been  first  trans- 
mitted. At  the  opposite  extreme,  we  have  the  medulla  and 
cortical  substance  of  the  hair  so  colorless  as  to  transmit  light 
too  easily  to  produce  variable  effects  in  the  hair,  and  in  one  case 
reach  the  unhandsome  character  of  hair  of  the  color  of  tow. 
We  see  here,  as  in  all  of  nature's  work  and  man's  striving,  the 
essential  need  of  variety  to  confer  pleasure.  Be  the  color  of  the 
hair  what  it  may,  from  blond  to  brown  and  chestnut  and  auburn, 
if  it  but  have  the  glints  that  come  from  variety  of  structure  and 
pigmentation  in  the  individual  hair,  the  hair  is  handsome;  if  it 
be  densely  colored  hy  nature,  or,  far  w'orse,  d3'ed  b3T  art,  it  loses 
beauty  possible  to  it  as  the  effect  of  the  refraction  of  light. 

With  the  mention  of  one  or  two  other  points  connected  with 
the  constitution  and  growth  of  the  hair,  Ave  shall  conclude  with 
general  observations  on  the  subject,  wdiich  the  reader  will  then 
In-  able  fully  to  understand. 

At  the  narrowest  portion  of  the  hair-follicle,  at  its  so-called 
neck,  the  ducts  of  one  or  more  sebaceous  glands  enter  the 
follicle  and  supply  the  contained  hair-root  with  the  sebaceous 
matter  which  the  glands  secrete.  Every  individual  hair-follicle  is 
also  supplied  with  small  muscular  appendages.  These,  lying  at  an 
acute  angle  with  the  follicle,  to  the  inside  lower  portion  of  which 


THE   CONSTITUTION    AND   GROWTH    OF    THE    HAIR.  293 

one  end  is  attached,  while  the  other  is  fixed  in  the  corium,  in 
contracting  change  the  hair-follicle  from  its  normally  oblique 
position  toward  the  vertical  one.  The  hair-rool  and  hair,  rising 
toward  the  perpendicular,  produce  the  effect  known  as  the  "  hair 
standing  on  end."  When  this  effect,  which  is  involuntary,  the 
muscles  concerned  in  it  being  involuntary  ones,  is  produced  in 
an  exaggerated  degree,  the  opening  of  the  hair-follicle  is  spas- 
modical^ puckered  up  and  protruded,  and  the  surface  of  the 
skin  assumes  the  roughness  known  as  "goose-flesh."  Either 
fright  or  sudden  cold  occasions  these  effects.  In  the  case  of 
fright,  the  central  nervous  system,  stimulated  by  ideation,  is 
responsible  for  the  condition.  In  the  case  of  cold,  the  effect  is 
produced  by  simple  reflex  action  in  response  to  the  stimulation 
of  the  surface  of  the  skin. 

To  the  best  of  the  knowledge  of  anthropologists,  there  is  no 
distinctively  hairy  race  on  earth,  although  there  are  peoples 
more  hairy  than  other  peoples,  individuals  who  have  an  ab- 
normal luxuriance  of  hair,  and  other  individuals  who  have  a 
growth  abnormal  with  respect  to  sex  or  age,  as  in  the- case  of  a 
so-called  "  bearded  lady"  and  her  little  son,  with  whom  we  once 
had  the  pleasure  of  dining  daily  on  a  sea-voyage.  The  lady 
had  what  would  have  been  considered  in  a  man  a  very  fine, 
full  beard,  and  the  boy,  who  was  about  5  years  of  age,  had  a 
hirsute  covering  on  the  lower  part  of  his  face,  that  looked  like  a 
rat-skin,  and  bore  ample  promise  of  future  compensation  in 
dimes.  -The  inhabitants  of  that  singular  island  in  the  West 
Pacific,  called  Easter  Island,  are  said  to  be  bearded,  although 
the  beardless  type  of  the  human  race  obtains  in  that  quarter  of 
the  globe.  This  is  one  instance  of  a  relatively  hirsute  people. 
We  shall  eventually  know  more  about  them,  through  the  interest 
which  has  been  excited  in  the  island,  by  the  great  find  there 
of  idols,  some  of  which  were  taken  to  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion lately.     Some  other  islands  of  the  Polynesian  archipelago 


204  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

are  .said  to  have  hairy  people,  hut  generally  their  inhabitants 
oannot  he  so  characterized. 

In  short,  the  freaks  of  nature  exhibited  at  dime-museums 
have  heretofore  represented  nothing  bul  their  own  individuality, 
which,  unfortunately,  is  transmissible;  for,  in  one  case,  well 
known  and  thoroughly  investigated  by  scientific  men,  three  gen- 
erations bad  shared  in  the  dreadful  deformity  of  hirsuteness  all 
over  the  body.  These  cases  are  doubly  strange,  for  there  seems 
to  he  some  mysterious  connection  between  this  abnormal  growth 
of  the  hair  and  the  teeth,  these  hirsute  monstrosities  being 
generally  deficient  in  dentition.  The  belief  that  there  are  nor- 
mally hairy  races  has  always  been  very  prevalent.  The  Medical 
World  published  a  long  article  on  the  girl  known  as  "  Krao,"  or, 
the  "  Missing  Link,"  in  favor  of  the  supposition  that  she  was 
one  of  a  race  of  hairy  savages  in  the  north  of  Siain.  There  is, 
however,  no  such  race  anywhere  in  Siam,  and,  so  far  as  known, 
no  such  race  anywhere  in  the  world.  If  there  be  an}',  Africa  is 
the  only  land  where  it  can  be  dwelling,  and  Africa  has  not,  so 
far,  made  any  such  revelation. 

Persons  have  thought  that  the  pigment  of  the  body  is  of 
the  same  color  in  all  human  beings,  and  that  dilferent  races  and 
individuals  are  characterized  merely  b}-  the  presence  of  different 
amounts  of  it.  This  is  not  true,  the  pigment  .varying  in  color 
among  dilferent  races  of  mankind,  and  in  amount  among  indi- 
viduals of  the  same  race,  the  lightest  blonde  having  some  pigment 
in  her  skin.  The  tint  of  the  lightest  visible  drawing  in  India-ink, 
as  compared  with  the  lightest  visible  drawing  in  sepia,  is  entirely 
different  in  tone.  This  illustration  alone  ought  to  show  that  no 
tint  in  the  skin,  from  the  slightest  trace  of  coloring  matter  to 
the  densest  black,  can  be  produced  h}-the  same  color  of  pigment. 

The  probability  is,  that  in  the  same  individual  the  pigment 
throughout  the  body  is  the  same  in  color,  and  only  variable  in 
quantity  as  to  places;  and  that  that  portion  which  pervades  the 


THE   CONSTITUTION    AND   GROWTH   OF    THE   HAIR.  206 

hair  differs  in  appearance  from  that  which  pervades  the  skin  only 
from  the  fact  that  it  exists  in  the  former  in  greater  quantity 
than  in  the  latter,  and  also  under  very  different  conditions. 
The  difference  of  coloration,  as  between  that  of  the  skin  and 
that  of  the  hair  of  the  same  individual,  can  be  in  sum  accounted 
for  thus,  by  the  respective  amounts  in  the  skin  and  hair  of  the 
pigment-substance,  and  the  respective  differences  of  construction 
between  the  scarf-skin  and  the  modified  form  of  it  constituting 
the  hair. 

The  hair-bulb  supplies  pigment-granules  to  the  medulla  and 
cortical  substance  of  the  hair,  and  these,  growing  upward, 
charged  with  color,  give  what  we  know  in  the  shaft  as  the  color 
of  individual  hair.  Sometimes  the  hair-bulb  fails  to  yield  this 
supply  of  pigment,  and  the  consequence  is  that  there  are  on  the 
same  hair  spaces  that  are  alternately  colored  and  uncolored. 
Sometimes  the  pigment  fails  utterly  and  finally,  and  then  the 
hair  blanches,  and  is  sometimes  of  so  dead  a  white,  instead  of 
being  of  a  grayish  or  silveiy  white,  as  to  be  unhandsome.  There 
are  two  other  phases  in  the  appearance  of  pigmentaiy  loss  in 
the  hair,  one  of  which  is  extremely  unsightl}*,  and  the  other  quite 
the  opposite.  The  first  is  that  in  which  the  hair,  in  losing  pig- 
ment, becomes  of  a  greenish,  sea-weed  tint.  The  other  is  that  in 
which  the  hair  preserves  so  small  a  trace  of  green  as  to  be 
scarcely  recognizable,  save  as  softening  and  refining  the  effect 
of  its  whiteness. 

In  view  of  the  beautifying  effect  of  white  hair,  it  is  extra- 
ordinary how  many  persons  as  they  grow  old  are  blind  to  the 
fact.  In  Marie  Antoinette's  time  it  was  accepted  and  utilized. 
Even  the  youthful  face  looks  more  youthful  still  with  powdered 
hair ;  every  fancy-ball  proclaims  the  fact.  It  is  strange,  there- 
fore, that,  despite  the  fact,  men  of  a  certain  age  will  persist  in 
dyeing  their  hair  and  beards  to  look  like  blacking-brushes,  and 
women  of  an  uncertain   age  make  it  appear   most  certain  by 


296  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,    ASP   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

donning  black  "fronts"as  rigid  as  the  coiil'ure  of  the  damsel 
that  often  serves  as  n  ship's  figure-head.  There  are  plenty  of 
grayish  and  white  "  fronts  "  that  would  make  a  most  gracious 
substitute  by  softening  every  facial  line. 

Whal  makes  hair  curl?  The  curling-tongs,  for  one  thing; 
crimping-papers,  for  another.  We  have  heard  it  stated  thai  a 
glass  of  good  whisky  has  the  same  effect,  but  our  observation 
goes  to  the  contrary,  that  its  tendency  is  to  produce  elf-locks. 
When  hair  does  not  curl,  when  it  is  perfectly  straight,  like  that 
of  the  Indian,  it  is  because  the  cross-sections  of  the  individual 
hairs,  forming  collectively  the  head  of  hair,  are  broad  ovals  in 
form,  approaching  in  shape  the  cross-section  of  a  cylinder,  which 
is  a  circle.  When  hair  curls  to  the  extreme  possible,  as  in  the 
Negro,  with  whom  it  is  even  kinky,  it  is  because  the  individual 
hair  is  in  shape  very  far  removed  indeed  from  that  of  a  cylinder. 
It  is  flattened  in  places  and  distorted  throughout  its  length. 
Take  any  hair  that  lies  out  straight,  and  pull  it,  while  tightly 
compressed,  through  between  the  thunfb-nail  and  the  end  of  the 
forefinger,  and  it  will  be  found  instantly  curled.  One  side  of  it 
has  by  the  operation  been  shortened  as  compared  with  the  other 
side.     It  therefore  curls  toward  the  compressed  side. 

The  curling-tongs,  by  means  of  their  heat,  contract  one  side 
of  the  hair,  and  it  consequently  curls  toward  that  side.  The 
crimping-paper  crowds  the  cells  of  the  hair  together  on  one  side 
as  compared  with  the  other  side,  and  as  the  hair  is  elastic  it 
yields  to  the  stress,  and  curls  toward  the  crimping-paper,  but 
upon  being  released  gradually  regains  through  its  elasticity  its 
old  form.  The  heat  from  constant  use  of  the  curling-tongs  per- 
manently injures  the  hair  b}r  destroying  its  elasticity  and  render- 
ing it  dry  and  friable.  The  oil}'  matter  pervading  the  hair-shaft 
is  dissipated,  the  cuticle  of  the  hair  is  injured,  and  its  natural 
Lustre  departs.  Crimping-papers  do  no  harm,  except  to  the  eyes 
of  spectators.     Girls  who  spend  their  nights  and  days  in  them 


THE   CONSTITUTION   AND   GROWTH   OF   THE    HAIR.       ■  297 

look  forlorn  for  the  most  of  their  time,  for  the  sake  of  an  even- 
ing flitting,  passing  their  existence  in  a  pupa  state,  to  emerge 
as  an  unnatural  butterfly  ;  for,  do  what  one  will,  the  curia  of 
nature  defy  imitation. 

Except  in  the  outer  root-sheath  of  the  hair,  and  then  only 
to  a  very  limited  extent,  has  the  presence  of  nerves  as  associated 
with  the  hair  been  demonstrated.  Of  course,  the  constitution 
of  hair  excludes  the  idea  of  its  having  any  circulation  analogous 
to  that  of  the  body.  And  yet  there  are  certain  facts  connected 
with  abnormal  blanching  of  the  hair,  which  indicate  that,  through 
cerebral  excitement,  and  through  other  causes  also,  certain 
chemical  changes  taking  place  at  their  roots  may  pervade  hairs 
to  their  tips,  and  change  their  color  within  a  few  hours.  Putting 
aside  the  oft-cited  cases  of  Sir  Thomas  Moore,  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  and  Marie  Antoinette,  as  having  been  so  often  mentioned 
as  to  produce  the  impression  that  there  are  no  others,  and  equally 
discarding  Byron's  mention  in  poetty,  which  is  fiction,  of  the 
Prisoner  of  Chillon,  whose  hair  blanched  in  a  single  night,  we 
will  cite  other  cases  leading  to  the  conclusion  that  the  phenome- 
non is  possible,  has  occurred,  and  therefore  is  liable  to  occur 
again.  Medical  men  are  divided  in  opinion  as  to  its  possibilit3T, 
but  we  are  of  the  opinion  of  those  who  think  that  blanching  of 
the  hair,  induced  by  some  chemical  change,  the  character  of 
which  is  unknown  to  us,  may  occur  within  a  few  hours. 

First  of  all  should  be  noted  the  fact,  if  it  be  a  fact,  that 
sudden  change  in  the  color  of  the  hair  is  not  always  from  dark 
to  white,  but  that  cases  are  on  record  where  the  hair  has  turned 
from  white  to  black,  and  from  blond  to  red. 

Dr.  Erasmus  Wilson,  upon  the  authorit}^  of  a  correspondent 
of  the  London  Times,  cites  the  case  of  John  Libery,  who 
attempted  to  assassinate  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph,  of  Austria, 
to  the  effect  that  when,  a  week  after  his  attempted  crime,  he  was 
led  to  execution,  he  was  hardly  recognizable  from  the  circum- 


HEREDITY.    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

stance  that  his  previously  black  hair  had  become  almost  snowy 
white.  The  change  was  said  to  have  occurred  within  forty -eight 
hours.  Whether  we  suppose  his  hair  to  have  previously  been 
naturally  black,  or  artificially  black,  a  change  from  either  rendi- 
tion could  have  proceeded  from  no  other  cause  than  a  chemical 
one.  Dr.  Wilson  supposes,  from  his  own  microscopic  examina- 
tion of  the  white  spaces  in  partially  and  irregularly  blanched 
hair  (air  seeming  at  those  points  to  occupy  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  air-shaft),  that  the  presence  of  the  gaseous  matter  there 
masks  the  color,  and  that  saturation  of  the  hair  in  oil  might,  by 
expelling  the  gaseous  matter,  have  the  effect  of  restoring  the 
color  of  the  hair. 

But,  if  the  pigment  remains,  as  it  is  admitted  still  to  re- 
main, by  the  statement  that  its  color  is  probably  masked,  how 
can  its  color  be  masked  by  air  or  an}'  other  gas?  Air  is  air ;  we 
see  through  it ;  and  we  see  through  other  gases.  Gaseous  mat- 
ter, so  disposed  as  he  describes  in  the  vacuoles  of  the  hair-shaft, 
would,  through  the  influence  of  light,  have  the  effect  of  modify- 
ing the  color,  not  that  of  masking  it  to  the  extent  of  obliterating 
it  to  the  sight.  Either  the  pigment  has  lost  its  color,  or  the 
pigment,  as  matter  originally  containing  color,  has  disappeared; 
there  is  no  other  alternative.  The  last  proposition  is  untenable, 
because  the  matter  containing  pigment,  the  granules  regardless 
of  their  color,  are  pli3*sical  existences,  retained  by  the  cuticle  of 
the  hair  with  a  tenacity  which  we  must  believe  sufficient  to  keep 
them  under  some  form  of  matter  from  escaping. 

•We  are  therefore  forced  to  conclude  that  the  granules  have 
lost  their  color.  The  coincident  presence  of  gaseous  matter  in 
the  hair-shaft,  in  such  abnormal  quantities  as  apparently  to 
occupy  nearly  the  whole  contents  of  it,  offers  a  very  important 
suggestion  to  the  mind,  which  we  will  venture  to  set  forth  as  the 
true  explanation  of  the  phenomenon  under  consideration. 

Is  it  probable,  we  ask  ourselves,  is  it  indeed  credible,  that  this 


THE   CONSTITUTION    AND   GROWTH   OF   THE    HAIU.  290 

gaseous  matter  comes  from  the  atmosphere;  that  it  is  ordinary 
air  ?  If  this  inordinate  amount  of  gaseous  matter  be  atmospheric 
air,  it  must  come  from  the  inside  or  outside.  But  it  cannot 
come  from  the  inside,  because  the  hair-shaft  is  directly  connected 
in  the  follicle  with  the  hair-root  from  which  it  rises,  and  it  cannot 
come  suddenly  from  the  outside,  because  the  horny  cuticle  of  the 
hair  cannot  suddenly  change,  and  the  contents  of  the  hair-shaft 
are  so  compact  that  it  requires  strong  chemical  measures  (which 
we  shall  describe  in  the  next  chapter)  seriously  to  disturb  them. 
The  tendency  of  the  contents  of  the  hair-shaft  is  to  outflow  in- 
stead of  to  inflow,  as  we  see  demonstrated  by  the  shriveling  of 
the  hair  during  severe  sickness  and  disease. 

We  are  therefore  driven  to  believe  that  we  are  not  concerned 
with  atmospheric  air  at  all,  but  that  the  gaseous  matter  inside  of 
the  hair-shaft  is  liberated  by  a  chemical  change  which  has  simul- 
taneously divested  the  pigment-granules  of  color,  and  perhaps 
wholly  converted  them  into  a  gaseous  product.  We  believe, 
in  a  word,  that  the  loss  of  pigment-color  and  the  presence  of 
gaseous  matter  are  related,  concomitant  conditions  of  the  same 
phenomenon.  Upon  this  theory,  the  sequence  of  events  would 
be,  that  great  disturbance  of  the  nervous  sj-stem,  whether  pri- 
marily mental  or  physical,  having  occasioned  abnormal  and  de- 
structive secretions  in  the  generative  apparatus  of  the  hair  at 
the  root,  capillar  attraction  has  conveyed  them  through  the 
hair  and  thus  destroyed  its  coloring  matter,  coincidently  with 
liberating  gas  formed  as  one  of  the  products  of  the  chemical 
reaction. 

The  views  here  expressed  are  stronghT  confirmed  by  the 
circumstances  of  a  case  reported  in  the  Medical  Times  of  July 
2,  1881,  since  republished  in  the  Joiwnal  of  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association,  December  21,  1889,  and  noticed  b}-  the  London 
Lancet.  In  this  case,  through  the  hypodermic  administration 
of  pilocarpine,  the  hair  changed  entirely  in  the  quantit}'  and 


300  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

quality  of  coloring  matter.  Twelve  days  after  the  beginning  of 
the  treatment,  the  light-blond  hair  of  the  patient,  a  woman, 
began  to  darken,  and  continued  so  to  do  until  by  the  twenty-sixth 
davit  had  become  dark  brown,  and,  although  at  the  end  of  seven 
weeks  the  administration  of  the  pilocarpine  ceased,  the  hair  at 
the  end  of  four  months  had  become  nearly  jet  black.  It  subse- 
quently reverted  to  brown.  No  change  of  structure  in  the  hair 
was  observable  through  microscopical  examination.  The  only 
change  detected  in  it  was  thickening  and  increase  of  pigment. 
Here  we  have,  in  a  surcharge  of  pigment,  the  reverse  of  the 
cause  of  blanching. 

A  case  is  also  known  where  the  fluid  extract  of  jaborandi 
produced  similar  results.  Dr.  D.  W.  Prentiss,  the  original  ob- 
server in  these  cases,  gives  in  his  article  on  the  subject,  in  the 
Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  many  interesting 
cases  of  change  of  color  in  hair. 

A  credible  medical  witness  has  reported  a  case  of  violent 
neuralgia  treated  with  morphia,  bromide  of  potassium,  quinine, 
etc.,  followed  by  discoloration  of  the  hair,  some  of  it  becoming- 
white  and  some  red,  while  at  the  back  and  sides  of  the  head  the 
normal  black  tint  of  the  hair  remained.  Sir  James  Paget  tells, 
in  one  of  his  lectures,  of  the  case  of  a  lady  whose  hair,  during 
attacks  of  nervous  headache,  whitened  in  places,  and  in  a  few 
days  afterward  regained  its  color. 

All  that  we  have  personally  been  able  to  glean  on  the  subject 
seems  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  hair  may  change  suddenly 
from  natural  or  artificial  causes,  through  sj'stemic  agency, 
despite  the  fact  that  the  hair  proper  has  no  nerves  and  no 
determinate  circulation,  that  it  does  occasionally  so  change,  and 
that  it  so  changes  through  chemical,  combined  with  capillary, 
action. 

Klein  is  justly  regarded  as  a  high  authority  on  the  subject 
of  the  hair,  but  we  cannot  agree  with  him  on  one  point,  that  if 


THE   CONSTITUTION   AND   GROWTH   OF    THE    HAIR.  301 

a  papilla  be  destroyed  it  is  reproduced.  lie  says  that,  in  the 
case  of  the  destruction  of  a  papilla  of  a  hair,  a  new  papilla  and 
a  new  hair  are  generated  in  the  old  follicle.  The  process,  ac- 
cording to  him,  is  the  following.  When  the  papilla  atrophies, 
its  hair-bulb  and  the  lower  part  of  the  follicle  degenerate  and 
are  gradually  absorbed,  and  then,  when  nothing  is  left  of  the 
apparatus  but  the  upper  part  of  the  follicle  and  the  hair-root,  a 
growth  of  cells  pushes  downward  from  the  outer  root-sheath 
and  becomes  invaginated  over  a  new  papilla.  But  where  does 
the  new  papilla  come  from  ?  A  new  papilla  is  thus  assumed  to 
have  formed.  But  we  have  one  cogent  and  sufficient  reason  to 
oppose  to  the  idea  that  a  new  papilla  can  form  in  case  the  old 
one  has  actually  been  destroyed,  and  that  is  that,  when  by  the 
needle  we  extirpate  a  hair  by  passing  an  electric  current  through 
the  papilla,  no  hair  is  ever  reproduced  from  the  follicle.  It  is  a 
legitimate  presumption  that  no  papilla  is  there  to  reproduce  it. 

When  a  hair,  exhausted  as  to  the  vitality  of  its  root,  per- 
haps from  the  root  being  called  upon  to  maintain  a  stem  too  long 
for  its  capacity  to  nourish,  the  root  shrivels,  and  the  root,  with 
the  hair,  slips  from  its  follicle,  leaving  the  papilla  to  reproduce 
another  hair,  as  it  assuredly  will  do,  unless  the  case  be  one  of 
incipient  baldness.  The  follicle  remains  as  the  vital  point,  fully 
equal  to  producing  another  hair.  When  we  pull  from  the  head 
a  live,  vigorous  hair,  we  do  not  find  the  root  shriveled,  but 
looking  like  a  dense  gelatinous  mass,  ragged  at  the  extremity 
and  sides.  This  is  the  root  with  a  portion  of  the  inner  root- 
sheath  clinging  to  it.  The  reader  will  remember  that  we  said 
that  the  inner  root-sheath  extends  onh/  from  the  neck  of  the 
follicle  nearly,  but  not  quite,  to  its  bottom,  and  closety  invests 
the  root.  Hence,  when  the  root  is  exuberant  with  vitality  and 
bulges  out  in  every  direction  in  its  follicle,  instead  of  being- 
overtaxed  to  support  too  long  a  shaft,  or  dwindled  from  disease, 
•  it  is  in  such  close  contact  with  the  inner  root-sheath,  that  in 


302  HEREDITY.    HEALTH,    AND  PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

pulling  out  a  vigorous  hair  we  must  needs  pull  out  part  of  the 
inner  root-sheath  with  it.  In  neither  case,  however,  is  the 
papilla  removed  or  destroyed,  and  it  at  once  begins  to  generate 
a  new  hair. 

A  new  hair  is  pointed,  and  in  making  its  way  out  of  the 
narrow  neck  of  the  follicle  it  is  bent  around  like  a  loop  upon 
itself,  in  which  form  its  ability  to  escape  is  much  increased. 
Nevertheless,  hairs  do  sometimes  become  involved  in  the 
follicle  so  that  they  cannot  escape,  and  continue  to  grow  in  a 
spiral  form  until  the  irritation  to  the  skin  becomes  so  intense 
that  they  must  be  liberated  by  its  perforation. 

Baldness,  whether  premature  or  mature,  as  in  old  age,  and 
also  baldness  from  disease,  is  caused  by  the  absorption  of  the 
structures  which  represent  the  mechanism  of  the  growth  of  the 
hair.  Baldness  may  be  physiological  or  pathological  ;  from 
natural  weakness  of  the  structures  and  cessation  of  their  func- 
tions, or  from  disease  constitutional  or  acquired. 

Congenital  baldness  can  be  but  retarded  in  its  devastation, 
and,  probably,  best  by  means  of  the  stimulation  of  the  galvanic 
current.  For  this  particular  application  of  the  current,  there  is 
now  manufactured  an  admirably  constructed  brush,  with  light, 
springy  steel  wires,  taking  the  place  of  bristles.  So  far  from 
being  harsh  to  the  scalp,  the  sensation  produced  by  it  without 
the  current  is  delightful.  With  the  addition  of  the  light  current 
used  for  the  scalp,  the  sensation  undergoes,  of  course,  the  change 
natural  to  the  electrical  flow. 

Congenital  baldness  being,  as  every  one  knows,  frequently 
associated  with  great  general  vitality,  tonic  and  constitutional 
treatment  is  not  indicated  for  persons  suffering  from  its  inroads. 
When,  however,  the  tendency  to  loss  of  hair  originates  other- 
wise, whether  in  children  or  adults,  constitutional  treatment 
should  be  adopted  coincidently  with  local  treatment  of  the 
scalp. 


THE   CONSTITUTION    AND   GROWTH   OF   THE    HAIR.  303 

Dandruff  is  a  perfectly  normal  product.  It  represents 
scales  of  the  horny  layer  of  the  scarf-skin,  both  those  pushed  out 
of  the  follicles  b}- the  growing  hair,  and  those  fallen  from  the 
surface  of  the  scalp  of  the  head.  The  scales  of  the  horny  layer 
of  the  scarf-skin  are  constantly  falling  from  all  parts  of  the  body, 
but  the  fact  does  not  attract  general  observation,  as  it  docs  on 
the  scalp,  because  their  fall  is  not  arrested  as  it  is  by  the  pres- 
ence of  long  hairs  like  those  of  the  scalp.  In  healthy  persons, 
especially  in  the  cases  of  those  whose  hair  grows  fast,  the  forma- 
tion of  dandruff  is  naturally  the  most  rapid.  Beyond  the  natural, 
healthy  condition  described,  we  reach  the  oily  scaliness  of  sebor- 
rhea and  other  diseases.  Fuller  mention  of  affections  of  the  skin 
causing  baldness  properly  belongs  to  a  chapter  in  which  we 
shall  discuss  the  diseases  and  parasitic  invasions  of  the  hair ;  so 
we  reserve  it  for  that  place. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE   COSMETIC   CARE   AND   TREATMENT   OP   THE    HAIR. 

THE  hair,  at  the  first  glance,  seems  to  be  virtually  inde- 
pendent of  the  body,  to  be  a  growth  which  manifests  vigor 
or  weakness,  irrespective  of  vigor  or  weakness  of  bodily  consti- 
tution. We  sometimes  see  young,  lusty  members  of  society 
bald  at  an  early  age,  and  the  consumptive  often  endowed  with 
marvelous  luxuriance  of  hair.  Yet  this  independence  is,  after 
all,  but  seeming.  We  know  next  to  nothing  of  the  delicate 
processes  of  vital  chemistry,  but,  little  as  we  know,  we  know  this, 
that  the  growth  of  hair  depends  primarily  upon  nerve-suppl}- 
and  circulation  in  the  scalp,  and  therefore  that  a  man  endowed 
with  superb  general  health  ma}T  become  bald,  while,  at  least  for 
a  time,  the  hair  of  the  consumptive  may  flourish.  The  health 
of  the  hair  of  the  consumptive,  as  deduced  from  its  appearance 
of  luxuriance,  is  only  seeming.  Consumption  is  a  consuming 
of  tissues  and  coincident  death  of  structures.  In  its  earliest 
stages  it  often  presents  many  signs  similar  to  those  of  health, — 
high  hope,  appetite,  color,  muscularit}', — because  the  vital  action 
is  spendthrift.  The  outgo  is  more  "than  the  income ;  it  is  not 
drawing  upon  the  interest  of  constitution,  for  there  is  none,  but 
upon  the  little  principal  that  it  possesses.  But  later,  the  hair 
shares  in  the  general  decadence.  It  begins  to  fall  out,  what  is 
left  to  become  dry  and  shriveled,  and  in  the  last  stages  of  the 
disease,  if  they  last  long  enough,  the  sparse  remainder  gives  no 
idea  of  its  pristine  luxuriance  and  beauty.  The  nerves  of  the 
scalp  and  all  the  apparatus  depending  on  them  are  atrophying 
and,  like  the  bod}T,  will  soon  be  dead. 

The  first,  last,  single,  fundamental  fact  that  we  would  strive 
to  impress  upon  the  reader,  regarding  the  growth  of  the  hair,  is 

20  (305) 


300  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

that,  however  much  it  may  vary  in  the  individual  on  account  of 
constitution,  Bex,  :i'-iv,  «>r  climate,  ii  depends  in  all  persons  upon 
the  character  of  individual  hair-producing  nervous  and  vascular 
organisation  of  the  scalp.  Whatever,  therefore,  whether  in  kind 
or  duration  of  covering  for  the  head,  in  cleanliness  of  the  part, 
friction  to  it,  stimulating  lotions,  contributes  to  keeping  the 
scalp  in  a  healthy  condition,  promotes  also  the  growth  and 
duration  of  the  hair. 

The  scalp  should  not  be  regarded  as  skin,  otherwise  than  at 
least  as  susceptible  as  that  of  the  body,  liable  from  the  same 
causes  to  experience  good  or  ill  effects;  for  it  has  the  same 
constitution  as  that  of  the  rest  of  the  body,  with  the  relative 
disadvantage  of  not  being  heavily  re-inforced  by  tissues  below, 
Coincidently,  another  fact  should  be  kept  in  mind,  that  general 
rules  apply  only  to  mankind  in  general,  that  often  what  is 
permissible  to  one  person  is  impossible  to  another.  The  amount 
of  neglect  which,  in  the  shock  head-of-hair  of  an  Italian  organ- 
grinder's  boy,  gifted  through  race,  and  spending  most  of  his 
time  in  the  open  air,  has  no  apparent  effect,  would  mar  or  ruin 
the  hair  of  a  home-abiding  woman.  With  him  every  nerve  in 
the  scalp  is  in  vigorous  action,  every  gland  secreting,  despite 
neglect  of  cleanliness.  He  is  living  almost  in  a  state  of  nature, 
the  woman  almost  as  far  as  possible  from  it.  Who  has  never 
observed,  who  has  been  away  on  a  ramble  on  sea-shore  or 
mountain,  how  much  faster  there  than  elsewhere  the  hair  grows 
from  the  effects  of  air  and  exercise  under  the  open  sky  ! 

It  follows  that  certain  practices  of  some  persons,  in  the  care 
and  treatment  of  the  hair,  are  impossible  to  others.  Feople 
generally  forget  that  they  are  not  living  in  a  state  of  nature,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  in  a  highly  artificial  one,  and,  therefore,  that 
what,  in  a  state  of  nature,  nature  would  tolerate  as  divergent,  it 
is  ruthless  with  regard  to  in  departure  from  or  violation  of  its 
laws.    To  a  certain  degree  it  will  accommodate  itself  to  the  special 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE   AND   TREATMENT   OF   THE    HAIR.  .'ill 7 

needs  of  every  individual,  but  beyond  that  the  bond  between  it, 
and  the  individual  becomes  strained,  and  often  parts  with  life 
itself.  Everywhere  human  beings  need  light  and  air  and  clean- 
liness for  health  and  life  itself,  but  they  seem  to  forget,  if  they 
ever  knew,  that  the  hair,  being  a  vital  structure,  needs,  like  fix- 
body  elsewhere,  light,  air,  and  cleanliness.  It  especially  needs 
attention  to  them  in  the  midst  of  the  artificial  life  of  civilization, 
for,  in  a  state  of  nature,  the  hair  obtains  the  first  two  so  plente- 
ously  that  it  can  even  afford  to  dispense  largely  with  the  last. 
With  regard  to  light  and  air,  we  have,  however,  marie  some 
advance  in  practice,  as  the  flowing  locks  of  girls  up  to  fourteen 
years  of  age  show.  We  much  fear,  however,  that  the  practice 
originates  with  fashion,  and  not  from  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  we  have  mentioned. 

Civilization  is  especially  mindful  of  the  need  of  cleanliness 
for  the  hair,  while  apparently  oblivious  of  its  demand  for  air  and 
light.  But,  while  practicing  the  cleanliness  to  which  it  is  laro-elv 
addicted,  it  often  pursues  methods  which  are  detrimental,  and 
sometimes  fatal,  to  its  chief  end  in  view.  We  can  favorably  in- 
fluence the  condition  of  the  hair-secreting  apparatus  only  by 
means  of  maintaining  or  increasing  the  health}^  action  of  the 
scalp.  By  nourishing  and  stimulating  to  reaction  the  secretin^ 
structures,  they  are  kept  in  healthy  condition,  and  their  pro- 
ductive energy  increased.  We  shall  attempt  to  show  that  some 
of  the  practices  contemplating  these  results  are,  instead  of  beino- 
beneficial,  highly  pernicious. 

One  of  the  most  flagrantly  wrong  methods  is  severe  combing 
with  the  fine-tooth  comb,  and  severe  brushing  with  the  stiff- 
bristled  hair-brush.  The  epidermis  and  corium  of  the  scalp 
are  not,  as  are  the  epidermis  and  corium  of  the  body,  supported 
by  large  masses  of  subcutaneous  connective-tissue  and  fascia?. 
The  thickness  of  the  scalp  is  very  slight, — so  thin  that  in  some 
cases  of  baldness  it  presents  the  appearance  of  dry  parchment 


308  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

shrunk  over  every  modeling  of  the  skull.  Realize  the  severity 
of  the  practice,  as  l<>  this  thin  integument,  of  taking  a  bard  brush 
(and  sometimes  one  is  used  in  each  hand), and  going  through  an 
[ndian-club  exercise  on  the, head.  Of  course  the  skin  there  is 
unduly  stimulated,  because  it  is  too  thin  there  to  stand  the 
amount  of  friction  from  which  elsewhere  it  would  not  sutler.  A 
considerable  amount  of  stress,  too.  is  by  this  process  put  upon 
the  roots  of  the  hair  by  the  pull  upon  the  hair-shafts.  In  the 
case  of  the  abuse  of  the  sculp  by  the  line-tooth  comb,  it  is  used 
like  a  harrow  over  the  scalp,  excoriating  it  so  that  the  smallest 
amount  of  diluted  spirits  afterward  applied  to  it  causes  painful 
smarting. 

Yet  both  of  these  instruments  are  efficacious  for  cleanli- 
ness, and  productive  of  no  harm  if  judiciously  employed.  We 
once  knew  a  gentleman  who  retained  to  an  advanced  age  a  full 
suit  of  hair,  untouched  in  color  and  glossiness,  who  never  failed 
daily  to  pass  the  fine-tooth  comb  through  his  hair.  But  then  the 
operation  consisted  literally  of  passing  it  once  through  the  hair, 
allowing  it  barely  to  touch  the  scalp.  Thus  he  gathered  on  it  a 
minute,  almost  imperceptible,  fluffy  film  of  dust  and  dandruff, 
and  maintained  the  scalp  in  a  state  of  perfect  cleanliness,  without 
exacerbating  it  to  the  slightest  degree.  He  parted,  and  then 
brushed  his  hair,  not  as  a  gymnastic  exercise,  but  simply  as  a 
gentleman  quietly  arranges  it, — with  a  moderately  hard  brush, 
neither  hard  nor  soft,  imparting  a  gentle  but  sufficient  stimulus 
to  the  scalp. 

If  one  has  one's  hair  onty  occasionally  cleaned  and  combed 
by  another  person,  the  best  mode  of  procedure  is  the  following, 
in  which  also  the  line-tooth  comb  bears  its  share: — 

Some  saponaceous  matter,  in  liquid  form,  or  made  at  the 
time  from  a  cake  of  bland  soap,  is  rubbed  into  suds  on  the  head,- 
the  scalp  being  carefully  gone  over  with  the  tips  of  the  fingers 
and  nails,  to  dislodge  any  adherent  scarf-skin  scales,  and  then 


THE  COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT   OF    THE    HAIR.  309 

scalp  and  hair  are  washed  by  pouring  water  over  them  while  the 
person  being  operated  on  stoops  over  a  basin.  The  hair  is  then 
dried,  preferably  with  hot  towels,  and  such  an  amount  of  oil  of 
some  kind  as  may  represent  that  lost  by  the  operation,  and,  per- 
haps additionally  needed,  is  administered  to  both  scalp  and  hair. 

Here  the  operation  may  cease,  with  this  administration  to 
the  scalp  especially,  but  in  some  degree  also  to  the  hair,  of  a 
small  amount  of  oil  or  pomade  as  a  substitute  for  that  lost 
through  the  detersive  effect  of  the  soap,  and,  additionally,  of  an 
amount  needed  to  rectify  undue  dryness  of  the  scalp  and  hair. 
But  if  one  contemplates  having  the  operation  completed  to  the 
ultimate  point  of  nicety,  then,  after  the  head  has  been  dried  with 
hot  towels,  the  operator  should  take  the  smallest  kind  of  a 
toilet-brush  (that  which  in  the  brush  part  is  only  two  or  three 
inches  long),  and,  carefully  dividing  the  hair  with  it  and  a  comb 
in  places  all  over  the  scalp,  look  out  for  any  remaining  incrusta- 
tions of  scarf-skin,  and  gently  remove  them  from  the  surface,  not 
by  a  scratching,  but  by  a  gentle,  spading  movement.  After  this, 
some  fine  oil  or  pomade  is  rubbed  into  the  scalp  with  the  tips  of 
the  fingers,  and  the  hair  itself  is  given  a  sufficient  allowance  by 
receiving  that  which  remains  on  the  hand.     • 

In  an  exceeding^  rude  way  this  operation  is  performed  by 
barbers,  and  called  by  them  shampooing.  With  them,  it  closes 
at  the  end  of  the  first  step  just  described,  when  the}'  douche  the 
customer's  head  through  a  quill  in  the  cork  of  a  bottle  containing 
some  compound  of  an  oily,  alcoholic  nature,  scented  with  such 
a  vile  odor  that  for  hours  afterward,  when  a  man  removes  his 
hat  in  a  public  conve3Tance,  or  in  the  street,  and  finally  returns 
to  the  bosom  of  his  famity,  the  whole  world  knows  that  he  has 
been  shampooed,  and  upon  rising  the  next  morning  he  finds 
that  he  has,  although  perhaps  an  educated  man,  made  his  mark 
upon  his  pillow.  If  one  attempt  to  escape  from  the  infliction  of 
the  pepper-sauce  bottle,  he  does  not  fare  much  better,  for  the 


310  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   HEAUTY. 

ordinary  barber  never  has  a  choice  oil  or  pomade.  The  only 
trul\  sublimated  barber's  shop  thai  we  ever  sa"w  was  one  kepi  in 
San  Francisco  by  a  German  named  Edward  Stahl.  There  a 
brush  was  never  used  a  second  time  until  it  bad  been  washed. 
Baskets  of  freshly-washed  brushes,  looking  at  a  little  distance 

like   heaps  of  freshly-cul   straw,  were   brought  in  at  intervals 

i 
throughout   the   day.      The    towels   used  were   heated   over   hori- 
zontal cylinders  of  bright  copper,  wit  hin  reach  of  the  shampooer. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  we  spoke  of  the  moderate  use  of 
the  brush  on  the  head  as  imparting  a  gentle,  pleasant,  and  bene- 
ficial stimulus  to  the  sculp.  There  are,  however,  other  desirable 
stimuli  for  the  scalp  which  we  are  far  from  wishing-  to  ignore. 
It  is  only  the  excessive  use  of  stimuli  for  it,  or  the  use  of 
improper  stimuli,  that  we  condemn.  Just  as  we  verily  believe 
that  we  have  known  men  to  promote  baldness  by  severe  brushing 
of  the  scalp  with  hard  brushes,  equally  do  we  believe  that  other 
cases  of  baldness  of  which  we  know  have  been  promoted  by 
sluicing  the  head  with  all  sorts  of  astringent  and  stimulating 
lotions.  Most  men  and  women,  upon  first  taking  alarm  at  the 
loss  of  hair  as  portending  the  immediate  invasion  of  baldness, 
adopt  remedial  measures  which  are  by  far  too  energetic.  They 
are  generally  addicted  to  too  much  brushing  and  combing  and 
lotion-applying,  and  when  we  consider  that  the  composition  of 
some  of  the  lotions  is  positively  injurious,  and  that  there  may  be 
excess  in  the  use  of  those  which  are  good,  the  usual  event  of 
more  and  more  rapid  loss  of  hair  is  not  surprising. 

There  are  about  the  growth  of  the  hair  certain  fundamental 
facts  that  would  seem  to  be  so  open  to  the  commonest  observa- 
tion, that  they  would  serve  for  guidance  in  the  care  and  treat- 
ment of  the  hair.  Indeed,  there  is  a  single  one,  generally 
accepted  by  women,  which  would  seem  to  imply  all  the  rest,  as 
if  they  were  mere  corollaries  of  it.  Thousands  of  women  have 
been  told  and  believe  that,  if  they  examine  the  ends  of  their 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE   AND   TREATMENT   OF    THE    HAIR.  311 

hair,  and  snip  it  off  below  the  point  where  the  hair-shaft  seems 
impoverished,  it  is  not  so  likely  to  fall  out.  Thousands  of 
women  follow  this  practice,  but  do  not  seem  to  see  all  the 
various  facts  which  it  implies,  and  consequently  do  not  reap  the 
benefit  that  could  be  derived  from  that  knowledge. 

The  fact,  for  it  is  a  fact,  implies,  first,  that  the  root  of  the 
individual  hair-shaft  can  nourish  well  just  so  much  length  of  the 
shaft  and  no  more  than  that  represented  by  the  length  of  the 
hair  from  the  scalp  to  the  beginning  of  the  shriveled  portion  of 
the  hair.  It  implies,  secondly,  that  by  cutting  off'  the  shriveled 
portion  of  the  shaft,  whatever  small  amount  of  nourishment  it 
has  been  uselessly  receiving,  will  be  devoted  to  that  portion  of 
the  shaft  which  is  left.  And  through  both  of  these  statements 
it  is  implied  that  nutritive  material  proceeds  along  the  hair-shaft 
from  the  root  toward  the  end. 

Now,  the  preceding  fact  and  its  implications  lead  surely  to 
the  broad,  underlying  fact  of  nature's  agency  in  the  matter. 
Every  individual  scalp  is  a  soil.  It  is,  first  of  all,  a  soil,  as 
belonging  to  one  of  a  race  of  mankind,  one  race  being  as  to  it 
endowed  with  greater  fertility  than  another,  and  productive  of  a 
different  kind  of  crop.  It  is,  secondly,  a  soil,  as  belonging  to 
an  individual  within  a  race,  to  that  particular  individual  and  to, 
no  other.  And  it  is,  lastly,  even  as  to  that  individual,  a  soil 
variable  in  fertility,  its  capacity  as  to  quantity  and  quality  of 
crop  differing  with  habits  of  life,  health,  and  age. 

No  matter  who  that  individual  may  be,  one  can  no  more 
make  a  hair  grow  sensibly  longer  than  it  naturally  grows,  than 
one  can  by  taking  thought  increase  one's  stature  by  a  cubit. 
We  can  make  it  grow  thicker,  but  the  thickness  obtained  is  at 
the  expense  of  even  the  former  length,  because  there  is  just  so 
much  nutritive  material  to  make  it  grow,  and  if  we  use  it  for 
thickness  we  cannot  have  it  for  length.  Some  time  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  fifties  a  man  went  through  a  portion  of  Maine,  making 


312  HEREDITY,    BEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

such  plausible  repi'esentations  to  the  women  and  girls,  thai  hun- 
dreds of  them  had  their  hair  cut  off  al  the  nape  of  the  neck. 
The  hay-crop  of  Maine  is  justly  celebrated,  but  it  requires  labor 
to  reap  and  store  it.  Bere  was  a  swatb  cul  through  a  crop  of 
the  State  at  the  expense  of  flourishing  a  pair  of  shears.  Dearly 
musl  some  of  the  ancient  virgins,  who  had  nol  trimmed  their 
lamps  to  enable  them  to  see  better,  have  rued  their  blindness  to 
the  fad  that,  after  the  loss  of  precious  years,  they  had  hardly 
reached  the  point  from  which  they  had  started. 

The  very  first  thing  that  one  should  do  when  hair  begins  to 
fall  freely  from  the  follicles  and  presents  a  shriveled  root,  is  not 
charingly  to  snip  it  off  near  the  tips,  but  promptly  to  cut  oil'  a 
generous  allowance  at  the  ends.  Therein  lies  the  best  chance  to 
regain  what  is  thus  lost.  Then,  do  not  go  to  work  to  brush 
harshly  and  unceasingly,  and  to  comb  with  unrelenting  care,  but 
perform  both  operations  gently  and  occasionally,  being  careful 
to  see  that  the  scalp  and  hair  are  supplied  with  ample  nutritive 
oily  material.  Avoid  all  cosmoline  and  vaseline  preparations, 
which  are  derived  from  petroleum.  Think  you,  that  if  nature 
had  thought  it  best  that  coal-oil  or  any  of  its  products  would  be 
best  for  the  scalp  and  hair,  that  it  would  not  have  had  spouting 
wells  of  petroleum  on  the  head  ?  Nature  has  declared  in  favor  of 
sebum.  Sebum,  as  we  know,  is  a  product  like  suet.  It  does  not 
follow  that  we  recommend  only  suet  for  the  hair,  although  suet, 
nicely  refined  and  scented,  makes  an  excellent  application  for  it. 
"What  we  first  of  all  define  as  our  view  is.  that  nothing  prepared 
from  petroleum  should  be  used  on  the  scalp  and  hair,  and,  going 
beyond  that,  we  recommend  as  best  forthe  hair,  not  even  a  vege- 
table oil,  but  an  animal  oil ;  because  we  believe  that  nature  knows 
best  about  everything,  and  in  this  matter  our  experience  con- 
firms the  ever-present  wisdom  of  its  ways.  Vegetable  oils  for 
the  scalp  and  hair  may  pass  muster  in  health,  simply  to  remove 
dryness,  but  for  comprehensive  utility,  whether  in  health,  weak- 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE   AND   TREATMENT   OF   THE    HAIR.  313 

ness,  or  disease  of  the  scalp,  commend  us  to  the  oil  of  nature's 
choosing,  or  the  nearest  imitations  of  it  tli.*i,t  we  can  ma 
Bear's  grease,  beef's  marrow,  almost  any  pure  animal-oil  that 
has  been  well  tried-out  and  refined  beyond  the  possibility  of  be- 
coming rancid,  is  adapted  to  the  scalp  and  hair.  We  have  the 
remains  of  a  pot  of  Coud ray's  pomatum  that  we  have  had  for 
nine  years,  and  it  is  still  perfectly  sweet,  although  it  has  been 
exposed  to  the,  heat  of  several  very  hot  summers. 

In  all  that  has  been  said  as  to  the  use  of  oil  or  grease  on  the 
scalp  and  hair,  it  is  not  in  the  least  implied  that  they  are  ever  to 
be  used  for  decorative  purposes.  Nothing  is  more  indicative  of 
barbarous  and  semi-civilized  conditions  than  the  use  of  oily 
matter  for  decoration.  The  more  man  becomes  civilized,  the 
more  he  shrinks  from  grease.  There  is  a  tribe  of  savages  in 
South  America  whose  members  finish  their  toilet  by  placing  on 
top  of  the  head  a  pat  of  butter,  which  in  the  course  of  the  day 
trickles  down  over  the  head.  The  purpose  is  protective  against 
the  scorching  rays  of  the  sun,  but,  as  in  the  case  of  all  dressing, 
it  is  doubtless  regarded  as  decorative.  In  this  very  city,  about 
the  forties,  when  a  man  with  a  moustache  could  not  be  sure  of 
passing  through  the  streets  without  being  hooted  at,  the  fashion 
of  hair  in  the  hooter,  who  was  known  as  Sykesey,his  female  con- 
gener being  Lize,  was  cropped  short  behind,  and  at  the  temples 
hanging  to  the  cheek-bones  in  two  squared,  black  ears,  called 
soap-locks,  saturated  with  oil,  while  Lize  was  not  far  behind  him 
in  her  greasy  presentation  of  her  sex. 

Oil,  or  grease  of  any  sort,  then,  is  not  to  be  understood  as 
recommended  for  decorative  purposes,  but  simpty,  so  to  speak, 
as  a  fertilizer;  and  the  reason  for  which  we  recommend  it  as 
such  is  simply  that  of  a  wide  experience,  confirmatory  of  its 
necessity  as  representing  obedience  to  the  laws  of  nature.  If  it 
be  said  that  nature,  furnishing  oil  to  the  scalp  and  hair,  must 
furnish  it  in  sufficient  quantities,  we  answer  that  observation 


314  111  HF.DITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

proves  that  this  often  is  not  the  fact.  The  argument,  in  view  of 
all  the  knowledge  in  our  possession,  is  fallacious.  It'  we  were 
living  in  a  state  of  nature,  the  argument  would  have  more  ap* 
parent  force.  But  even  then  it  -would  be  futile,  for,  after  all, 
what  is  nature?  Not  the  perfectuess  of  any  living  thing,  but  the 
sign  and  symbol  in  every  Living  thing  of  tendency  toward  per- 
fection. Nor  is  nature  even  thus  limited,  for  around  all  living 
things  is  placed  the  bondage  of  circumstances,  from  which  man 
can  only  partially  escape,  and  this  condition  is  a  part  of  nature. 
If  nature,  as  thus  composed  of  life  and  circumstances,  were  to 
man  all-sufficient  for  his  welfare,  then  self-help  and  tendence  of 
others  would  be  folly,  and  the  existence  of  the  physician  would 
be  one  of  the  most  glaring  absurdities  in  life. 

The  profession  of  women  has  been,  for  many  years,  that 
they  use  no  oil  at  all  on  the  head.  Their  abstention  from  the 
practice  has  not  been  so  great  as  many  of  them  imagine,  for 
within  that  time  there  has  been  more  use  of  hair-lotions  and  so- 
called  tonics,  all  of  which  contain  oil.  •  But  to  whatever  degree 
abstention,  or  belief  in  abstention,  from  the  use  of  oil  on  the 
head  has  taken  place,  it  has  been  brought  about  by  the  decree 
of  fashion  as  to  the  dressing  of  the  hair,  and  without  the  slightest 
thought  of  any  connection  between  it  and  the  hygienic  condition 
of  the  scalp  and  hair.  The  fashion  for  the  hair,  however  variable 
in  individuals,  has  been  averse  to  smoothness  of  arrangement, 
fluffiness  and  crinkiness  to  some  degree  being  universally  present 
in  the  coiffure.  Our  observation  of  the  deadness  of  appearance 
in  the  hair  of  young  girls  and  women,  compared  with  its  former 
relatively  lustrous  appearance,  goes  to  show  that  this  fashion,  in 
largely  hading  to  discontinuance  of  former  methods  of  treating 
the  scalp  and  hair,  and  to  the  adoption  of  plentiful  alcoholic 
stimulating  lotions,  has  brought  the  hair  of  members  of  the  fair 
se\-  generally  to  a  lower  hygienic  condition  than  the  condition 
among  corresponding  classes,  say  thirty  years  ago. 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT   OF   THE    HAIR.  315 

Let  us  examine  this  question  in  the  light  shed  by  a  com- 
parison between  the  old  practice  and  the  new,  with  relation  to 
their  probable  respective  effects  upon  the  hair. 

We  have  learned  that  the  hair,  in  becoming  less  vigorous, 
withers  at  the  end.  This  shows  that  the  forces  which  sustain  it 
pass  through  it  as  through  a  capillary  tube.  We  have  learned, 
also,  that  in  otherwise  degenerating,  the  interior  substance  of  the 
hair  liberates  a  gas  which  may  pervade  it.  In  addition,  it  is 
known  that  the  hair  is  hygroscopic ;  that  is  to  say,  that  it  will 
imbibe  water.  Upon  the  basis  of  this  knowledge  instruments, 
called  hj'groscopes,  are  made  of  hair,  which  imbibe  the  vapor 
of  water  in  the  atmosphere,  and  b3T  an  attached  scale  can  show 
its  relative  humidity  at  different  times.  We  also  observe  that 
the  hair,  from  being  immersed  hi  water,  becomes  partially 
saturated,  because  we  find  that  it  then  becomes  much  heavier, 
and  in  proportion  to  the  time  during,  which  it  has  been  im- 
mersed, takes  a  longer  time  to  dry.  In  bleaching  the  hair,  we 
find  that  potash  and  peroxide  of  hydrogen  readily  attack  and 
change  the  character  of  the  whole  contents  of  the  air-shaft.  We 
find  that,  in  weakness  of  constitution,  and  in  certain  diseases, 
the  exposure  of  a  large  hair-surface  is  unfavorable  to  the 
patient's  condition,  and  we  cut  off  the  hair.  We  find  that,  in 
paroxysms  of  acute  insanity,  the  hair  often  bristles  up  over  the 
whole  head,  and  presents  a  peculiar  appearance  far  beyond  the 
possible  elevating  effect  of  the  hair-erecting  muscles  at  the  roots. 

These  facts  prove,  over  and  over  again,  that  the  hair  is  a 
living  tissue,  that  the  individual  hair-shaft,  when  in  its  normal, 
unmoistened  condition,  acts  virtually  as  a  tube,  capable  of 
exercising  capillary  attraction,  and  that,  when  moistened,  the 
cells  of  its  cuticle  admit  liquid  at  their  joints,  which,  entering 
into  the  tissue,  escapes,  if  water,  by  extremely  slow  evapora- 
tion. 

The  universal  old-time  practice   of  treating  the  scalp  and 


316  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

hair  among  people  of  condition  was  admirably  adapted  (<>  this 
actual  constitution  of  hair,  of  which,  however,  it  should  be  said, 
they  knew  not  a  whit  more  than  the,  present  generation  among 
the  laity.  'The  women  who  go  about  now  cleaning  hair  have  no 
more  knowledge  than  the  barber  lias  of  its  constitution  and 
growth.  They  often  bring  a  lotion  with  them  of  their  own 
composition.  Soevery  barber  1ms  one,  frequently  of  his  own 
composition.  He  calls  it  a  tonic;  so  does  she  her  compound. 
Neither  knows  anything  of  its  therapeutic  value,  yet  they  both 
assume  each  to  he  of  talismanic  virtue.  It  is  generally  nothing 
hut  alcohol  and  almond,  or  some  other  oil,  sometimes,  colored 
with  cochineal,  or  otherwise  tinted.  If  only  of  these  ingredi- 
ents, it  is  not  objectionable  if  used  only  occasionally,  and  the 
alcohol  be  not  too  strong.  We  do  not  mention  it  as  such,  but 
merely  as  part  of  the  account  of  the  ordinary  male  or  female 
hair-dresser's  stock-in-trade  in  knowledge  and  material.  Scien- 
tilic  practice  must  be  based  either  directly  or  indirectly  on 
scientific  knowledge,  and  this  they  have  not  individually 
searched  for  and  found,  nor  have  they  ever  acquired  it  through 
instruction. 

In  the  modern  system  of  dressing  the  hair  and  cleaning  the 
head  alcoholic  solutions  are  entirely  too  much  used.  They 
unnaturally  dry  both  hair  and  scalp,  and  penetrate  the  cells  of 
both  to  their  permanent  injury.  That,  is,  they  do  so  if  used  in 
a  concentrated  alcoholic  form,  or  if  used  constantly  even  when 
in  a  diluted  alcoholic  form.  The  first  thing  to  be  done  in 
beginning  the  treatment  of  the  scalp  and  hair  is  to  examine  the 
sealp  for  undue  dryness,  and  the  hair  for  withered  roots  and 
lustreless  shafts.  Then  one  becomes  possessed  of  facts  to  work 
upon.  The  hair  being,  as  we  have  mentioned,  a  living  tissue, 
shows  at  once  if  it  be  unhealthy.  If  any  one  should  say,  how 
does  it  happen  then,  that'  hair  long  shorn  from  the  head  retains 
its  beauty?  we  answer  that  it  retains  its  beauty  if  it  possessed 


THE   COSMETIC   CA11E    AND   TREATMENT   OF   THE    JIAIR.  311 

beauty  when  so  shorn,  because  its  beauty  then  became  embalmed. 
On  the  living  body,  one  of  the  differences  between  healthy 
and  unhealthy  hair,  the  one  most  open  to  casual  observation,  is 
precisely  difference  in  beauty.  Dead  hair  never  can  regain  it, 
but  for  the  still-living  hair  there  is  hope  with  life. 

Pluck  some  hairs  out  on  different  portions  of  the  head. 
Are  the  shafts  irregularly  tinted  and  shrunken?  Are  the  roots 
shriveled  and  withered,  instead  of  being  full  and  bright,  like 
pieces  of  moist  gelatin?  If  these  are  the  conditions  present, 
trim  as  you  would  a  plant  under  cultivation,  not  limited  as  3'ou 
are  in  the  case  of  the  plant  to  any  season  of  the  year.  Trim  the 
hair  gradually  at  the  ends,  watching  at  the  roots  the  effeet  in 
newly-grown  hair,  and  along  the  shafts  of  both  old  and  new  hair. 
Administer  bland  oil  in  extremely  small  quantities,  but  fre- 
quently, to  the  scalp  for  the  nourishment  of  it  and  the  roots  of 
the  hair.  By  fertilizing  the  soil  and  trimming,  admit  that  one 
cannot  expect  a  weakly  plant  to  be  umbrageous.  If  there  is 
any  chance  that  it  shall  ever  be,  you  are  securing  it  by  these 
precautions.  Under  Providence  we  do  what  we  may,  not  what 
we  wish. 

The  hair,  being  a  living  tissue,  and  being  very  long  as  worn 
on  the  head  of  members  of  the  fair  sex,  offers  excellent  oppor- 
tunity for  healthful  stimulation  along  its  shaft,  as  well  as  at  its 
root.  No  lady  of  the  olden  time  but  knew  that  the  hair,  manipu- 
lated by  passing  the  hand  over  it  as  it  lies  smoothed  out  on  the 
head,  or  passing  the  long  masses  of  chevelure  through  the  hand, 
is  improved  in  glossiness.  It  is  not  to  be  for  a  moment  supposed 
that  the  hair  is  thus  rendered  glossy,  save  as  a  secondary  conse- 
quence of  this  treatment.  The  primary  consequence  is  the 
health}'  condition  of  the  hair-shaft.  The  hair-shaft,  thus  treated, 
secretes  and  excretes,  as  well  as  absorbs.  The  mild  friction  of 
the  somewhat  similarly  constituted  skin  of  the  palm  of  the  hand 
removes  from  the  hair-shafts  minute,  clinging  particles,  commu- 


318  BEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

nicates  warmth  from  friction,  stimulates  nutrition,  and  its  con- 
sequent secretion  and  excretion,  and  polishes  the  rounding 
surfaces  to  exquisite  finish,  revealing  and  enhancing  all  the 
nuances  and  undertones  of  color  in  the  hair. 

When  the  hair,  as  smoothed  out  on  the  scalp, is  subjected  to 
this  process,  the  best  way  to  carry  it  out  is  to  pass  the  hand  and 
the  softesl  kind  of  a  brush  alternately  over  the  surface.  The 
effect  is  as  different  from  that  of  crudely  oiling  as  is  that  of 
nighl  from  day.  Oil  should  be  used  merely  to  supply  a  deficiency 
in  oil-production.  If  there  be  no  deficiency  at  all,  which  is  a 
doubtful  condition  in  our  very  artificial  mode  of  life,  then  it  were 
needless  to  say  that  the  use  of  oil  would  be  monstrous.  It  is, 
however,  our  conviction  that,  our  lives  being  what  they  are.  as 
to  exercise,  housing,  furnacedieating,  etc.,  there  is  no  one  so 
living  who,  at  least  in  the  winter  time,  is  not  deficient  in  oily 
secretion  from  the  scalp.  Upon  the  basis  of  these  facts,  as 
detailed,  it  is  for  the  judicious  to  employ  oil  with  discretion, with 
the  view  of  supplying  a  deficiency  in  a  substance  upon  which 
the  health  and  beaut}'  of  the  hair  depend. 

We  conclude  this  branch  of  our  subject  with  a  summary  of 
the  advice  which  we  would  wish  to  impress  regarding  the  treat- 
ment of  the  hair.  All  stress  put  upon  the  roots  of  the  hair, 
whether  by  twisting  its  shafts  in  dressing  it,  so  as  unduly  to  pull 
upon  the  roots,  or  so  brushing  it  as  unduly  to  pull  upon  them, 
is  detrimental  to  the  health  and  the  growth  of  the  hair.  Equally 
detrimental  to  it  is  exacerbation  of  the  scalp  from  harsh  mechani- 
cal treatment  of  it  with  the  comb  and  brush,  or  frequent  use  on 
it  of  strong  alcoholic  solutions.  All  preparations  of  cosmoline 
and  vaseline  should  be  tabooed,  because  they  are  mineral-oil 
products.  Great  care  should  be  exercised  to  avoid  letting  the 
hair  grow  so  long  as  to  become  impoverished  by  its  dropping 
out,  or  by  the  withering  of  the  hair-shaft,  conditions  sometimes 
coincident  in  time.     Remembering  that  on  poor  soil  one  cannot 


THE   COSMETTC   CARE    ANT)   TREATMENT    OK    THE    HAIR.  319 

raise  a  good  crop,  be  careful  to  supply  artificially  to  the  scalp 
and  hair  the  amount  of  oil  by  which  it  is  naturally,  or  you  have 
artificially  rendered  it,  deficient.  Remembering,  too,  that 
nature's  growths  need  air  and  light  and  moisture,  fail  not  to 
let  the  hair  have  all  these.  Thus,  and  thus  only,  if  it  be  other- 
wise possible,  can  one  secure  health  and  beauty  to  the  hair,  and 
avoid,  or  at  least  postpone,  the  evil  day  of  baldness,  if  perchance 
it  threatens  invasion. 

We  have  admitted  that  we  approve  of  an  occasional  mild 
stimulation  of  the  nervous  and  vascular  systems  of  the  scalp  by 
the  mechanical  means  of  the  brush,  or  by  some  properly  medi- 
cated fluid  ;  but  we  have  been  careful  to  say,  at  the  same  time, 
that  any  stimulation  of  the  scalp  must  be  onhy  occasional  and 
mild,  and  that  when  it  is  a  stimulating  fluid  that  is  used  for  the 
purpose  we  should  be  vety  careful  as  to  its  chemical  composi- 
tion. We  have  no  faith  in  a  strong  solution  of  alcohol  being 
beneficial  to  either  scalp  or  hair.  The  very  fact  that  it  so 
efficiently  cleanses  them  is  one  of  the  proofs  of  how  severe  the 
application  is.  The  question  as  to  its  use  or  abuse,  however, 
really  turns  upon  the  question  as  to  how  much  the  alcohol  is 
diluted.  If  it  could  ever  be  used  perfectly  pure,  and  were  so 
used,  it  would  doubtless  kill  outright  many  a  hair-root.  But 
alcohol  has  such  an  affinity  for  moisture,  that  what  is  called 
absolute  alcohol,  or  perfectly-pure  alcohol,  has  but  a  very  brief 
existence.  Then,  again,  the  alcohol,  as  actually  used  for  lotions, 
has  been  purposely  diluted  with  watery  fluids,  besides  having 
matter  in  solution.  All  this  being  admitted,  alcoholic  solutions, 
as  used  for  the  hair  and  scalp,  are  very  frequently,  perhaps  for 
the  most  part,  too  strong. 

Alcohol  is  drying  to  the  scalp,  arid  to  ever}'  part  of  the 
hair-shaft  that  it  touches.  This  happens  because  it  takes  up  the 
natural  and  artificial  oils  in  solution.  And  that  is  why  it  cleanses 
so  thoroughly,  because  in  taking  the  oils  into  solution  it  liberates 


320  HEREDITY,    BEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

the  dirt  entangled  with  them,  and  this  the  final  application  of 
water  removes.  But  what  is  the  condition  of  the  hair  after  a 
bath  of  alcoholic  solution?  Excessively  dry,  requiring  ample 
restitution  of  oil,  it'  serious  detriment  bo  its  health  and  growth 
is  to  be  avoided.  The  same  consequence,  in  a  greater  degree, 
follows  the  use  of  borax  on  the  scalp  and  hair,  and  after  the  use 
of  it  there  should  he  an  ample  restitution  of  oil. 

We  are  strongly  of  the  opinion  that,  although  for  occasional 
use  light  mechanical  friction  and  mild  lotions  are  all  that  are 
desirable  for  the  hair  and  maintenance  of  the  health  of  the  scalp, 
that  when  it  comes  to  cases  of  incipient  loss  of  hair,  threatening 
baldness,  it  will  be  eventually  recognized  that  no  stimulus  for 
the  scalp,  and,  through  it,  for  its  nervous  and  vascular  systems, 
upon  wdiich,  as  Ave  have  said,  health  and  growth  of  hair  primarily 
depend,  can  compare  with  that  of  the  galvanic  current  mildly  ad- 
ministered. Its  tonic  effect  is  so  remarkable  that,  if  it  be  possi- 
ble to  abort  a  case  of  baldness,  the  best  means  for  so  doing  lie 
there.  With  moistened  sponge-electrodes,  the  hair  too  being- 
moistened  and  parted  at  intervals,  the  application  can  easily  be 
made  to  the  scalp.  A  very  good  way  of  administering  the  cur- 
rent is  with  the  metallic-bristled  brush,  of  which  we  have  spoken. 
The  galvanic  current  forms  real,  effective  administration  of  elec- 
tricity. The  brushes  that  are  offered,  and,  we  regret  to  say,  too, 
are  bought  by  a  portion  of  the  public,  have  a  little  magnet  inside 
of  them,  and  possess  no  electrical  power  wdiatever,  nor  any  mag- 
netic power  either,  so  far  as  affecting  the  animal  body  is  con- 
cerned. Their  attraction  is  exercised  solely  on  iron  or  steel  and 
the  public  gullibility. 

The  presence  of  hair  abnormally,  with  reference  to  position 
on  the  body,  or  to  sex,  is  a  real  affliction,  in  cases  in  the  female 
sex  occasionally  reaching  a  point  embittering  life.  New  Reme- 
dies, of  October,  1883,  gives  the  following  formula  for  a 
depilatory  : — 


THE    COSMETIC    CARE    AND    TREATMENT    OF    THE    HAIR.  321 

Sprinkle  over  100  parts  of  good  quick-lime  about,  50  parteof  hot  water,  and 
when  slaked,  triturate  [shake  up]  with  200  parts  of  cold  water.  Place  In  a  suit- 
able flask,  and  pass  into  it  trie  hydrogen  sulphide,  generated  from  200  parte  of  sul- 
phide of  iron  and  200  parts  of  sulphuric  acid,  gradually  introduced  Into  the 
generator.  This  preparation  must  be  immediately  placed  in  small  vials  and 
securely  sealed;  but  even  then  it  will  lose  its  virtues  alter  a  tew  weeks.  This 
was  originally  recommended  by  Bcetger,  but  is  sometimes  known  as  Martin's 
Depilatory.  This  paste  is  to  be  spread  over  the  hairy  skin  to  the  thickness  of  -X 
inch,  and  allowed  to  remain  for  ten  minutes,  when  it  is  removed  with  a  wit, 
sponge.     When  allowed  to  remain  too  long,  bad  sores  are  apt  to  result. 

Another,  known  by  the  Turkish  name,  Rusma,  is  composed  of  50  parts  of 
quick-lime,  30  parts  of  starch,  and  5  parts  of  orpiment.  This  is  to  be  made  into  a 
paste  with  water,  and  employed  in  the  same  manner  as  the  foregoing. 

Of  course  these,  and  all  such  methods,  remove  hairs  only 
temporarily.  One  of  the  incidental  and  dreadful  phases  of  ab- 
normal  hair  is  the  tenacity  of  its  growth.  What  might  serioush- 
affect  a  surface  of  healthy  hair,  does  not  seem  to  influence  the 
obtrusive  growth  in  the  least.  Our  imaginations,  however,  are 
somewhat  concerned  in  this  impression,  but  only  to  the  extent 
of  exaggerating  it  to  the  mind,  for  abnormal  growths  have 
doubtless  wonderful  relative  vigor.  The  only  way  of  making 
complete  and  final  disposition  of  abnormal  hair,  without  marrino- 
the  beauty  of  the  skin,  is  by  what  is  known  as  epilation  by 
the  electric  needle.  This  is  a  very  trifling  operation,  so  far  as 
hurt  is  concerned.  A  very  fine  platinum  needle  is  inserted  in 
the  papilla  of  the  hair,  and  then,  a  small  galvanic  current  from 
the  negative  pole  being  turned  on,  the  papilla  is  instantly 
destined,  and  the  reproduction  of  hair  from  it,  of  course, 
rendered  impossible. 

The  following  recipes  are  for  washes,  regarded  as  excellent 
for  stimulating  the  scalp  in  case  of  gradual  loss  of  hair: — 

1.  Lanolin, .        .1  ounce. 

Bicarbonate  of  sodium, 1  drachm. 

Mix,  and  rub  once  a  week  over  the  scalp  in  a  single  application. 

2.  Corrosive  sublimate, 15  grains. 

Turtle-oil, 6  ounces. 

Mix,  and  use  as  a  hair-oil. 

21 


322  HEREDITY.    I1KA1.TU.    AND    PKUS0NAT,    BK.UTY. 

Om*  of  the  best  of  hair-tonics  is  Pinaud's  Ban  de  Quinine. 
In  a  later  chapter  we  will  give  a  list  of  Borne  of  the  more 
eleganl  preparations  for  the  toilette. 

Oxygen,  :is  is  well  known,  is  one  of  the  constituents  of 
water.  But  water  may  contain  a  much  greater  proportion  of 
oxygen  than  is  necessary  for  its  constitution.  Binoxide,  or 
peroxide  of  hydrogen,  contains  a  very  much  larger  amounl  of 
oxygen  than  water  in  nature  docs.  In  this  form  it  is  sometimes 
called  ox3rgenated  water,  and  is  a  highly  oxidizing  fluid.  This 
it  is  which,  in  the  modern  practice  of  bleaching  the  bair,  has 
superseded  the  use  of  potash  for  the  same  purpose.  The  follow- 
in--  formula  for  its  preparation  was,  in  April,  1S84,  given  by  the 
American  Drugg  ist : — 

The  hairs  should  be  digested  with  a  3-per-cent.  solution  of  carbonate  of  am- 
monium, at  30°  C.  (86°  Fall.)  for  twelve  hours, then  treated  with  soap-suds,  and 
finally  again  digested  with  the  solution  of  carbonate  of  ammonium.  Winn  thor- 
oughly washed,  they  arc  placid  in  peroxide  of  hydrogen,  which  should  pre- 
viously be  perfectly  neutralized  with  ammonia. 

"Digested"  means,  in  this  case,  simply  "soaked  in."  As 
one  could  not  literally  keep  the  hair  in  soak  for  twelve  hours, 
what  is  meant  is  that  the  hair  is  kept  saturated  by  wet  cloths. 

Peroxide  of  hydrogen  produces  in  the  hair  an  effect  which 
is  a  travesty  of  any  tint  that  nature  makes  in  the  hair  of  the 
blonde.  It  is  a  mystery  how  any  one  can  imagine  that  it  simu- 
lates even  the  lowest  order  of  that  kind  'of  hair,  which  in  its 
lowest  natural  estate  is  far  from  handsome,  while  it  rises  at  its 
highest  to  a  beauty  not  to  be  exceeded.  The  peroxide  blond 
hair  has  a  singularly  dull,  lifeless  cast  of  yellow,  so  flagrantly 
unnatural,  that  a  glance  at  it  as  it  passes  in  the  street  is  enough 
to  detect  it.  The  hair-substance  has,  by  the  use  of  potent  chemi- 
cals upon  it,  ceased  to  be  a  living  tissue,  and  is  lustrelessly  and 
obtrusively  defunct  and  wiggy. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

PARASITIC   INVASIONS   OF  THE   SCALP,    HAIR,    AND   BODY. 

ANY  cutaneous  affection  is  necessarily  aggravated  by  the 
presence  of  hair  on  the  area  involved.  We  can  cite  such 
a  case,  even  when  a  large  boil,  occurring  under  the  chin,  amidst 
the  thickest  of  the  growth  of  a  dense  beard,  was  especially 
troublesome  on  account  of  its  occupying  that  locality.  There 
are,  however,  affections  of  the  skin  which  are  distinctively 
associated  with  localities  where  there  is  a  growth  of  hair,  and 
one  affection,  eczema,  or  tetter,  to  which  there  is  marked  liability 
as  a  consequence  of  some  depraved  condition  of  the  hair- 
producing  functions.  When  tinea  or  seborrhcea  are  the  diseases 
concerned,  they,  although  having  a  wider  range  than  merely 
attacking  the  hair-producing  apparatus,  may  be  distinctively 
diseases  of  the  scalp  and  other  hairy  portions  of  the  bod}\ 

Tinea  sycosis,  or  barber's  itch,  is  a  vegetable  parasitic 
affection,  to  which  only  members  of  the  male  sex  are  liable, 
because  it  attacks  only  the  bearded  parts  of  the  face  and  neck. 

Tinea  circinata,  or  ringworm  of  the  body,  caused  by  the 
same  vegetable  parasite,  does  not  by  predilection  attack  hairy 
surfaces.  When  it  spreads  to  them  from  other  parts  that  have 
been  attacked,  the  affection  is  known  as  tinea  tonsurans,  or  hair- 
denuding  tinea,  and  the  disease  becomes  modified  in  character. 

Tinea  favosa,  crusted,  or  honey-comb  ringworm,  is  derived 
from  another  vegetable  parasite.  It  ma}'  be  circumscribed  to 
one  locality,  and  may  invade  the  Tuhole  body. 

One  form  of  tinea,  alluded  to  in  a  preceding  chapter,  attacks 
the  nails.  The  disease  in  its  various  forms  is  very  contagious. 
Ringworm  of  the  scalp  sometimes  runs  through  a  large  school 
from  the  contagion  of  a  single  pupil. 

(323) 


324  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

X 

Seborrheas  capitis,  or  degeneration  of  the  sebaceous  appa- 
ratus of  the  scalp,  results  in  an  <>ily  exudation  poured  <>ut  on 
the  bead  and  mixed  witb  scales  of  scarf-skin,  forming  unsightly 
and  disgusting  crusts  on  the  bead.  As  seborrhcea  is  a  disease 
of  the  sebaceous  glands,  it  may  occur  on  any  part  of  the  body, 
and  in  rare  cases  bas  involved  the  whole  of  it. 

Eczema  capitis,  or  eczema  of  the  scalp,  may  be  a  primary 
or  a  secondary  disease  of  the  scalp.  As  already  indicated,  it 
may  be  brought  about  by  irritation  of  the  scalp  from  some 
other  disease. 

With  this  brief  mention  of  facts  related  to  some  diseases  of 
the  scalp,  we  must  stop.  It  would  be  preposterous,  even  if  it 
were  right,  for  us  to  attempt  to  present  even  the  briefest  outline 
of  such  diseases  and  the  treatment  applicable  to  them.  As  a 
regular  physician,  we  are  opposed  to  the  laity's  attempting  to 
treat  themselves  medically.  We  therefore  conclude  this  branch 
of  our  subject  by  recommending  that,  for  any  cutaneous  affec- 
tion, recourse  should  be  had  to  a  good  physician.  Neglected 
diseases  of  the  skin  make  firm  lodgment.  The  skin  acquires 
the  habit  of  the  disease,  ami  through  it  the  body  becomes 
systemically  affected.  Frequently,  the  trouble  is  centred  in  the 
trophic  S}-stem,  and  constitutional  as  well  as  local  treatment 
for  the  affection  is  indicated,  neither  of  which  ollices  can  an}r 
one  but  a  physician  rationally  prescribe. 

We  will  now  pass  from  the  consideration  of  vegetable  to 
that  of  animal  parasites. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  in  the  natural  history  of  man,  or  rather 
of  woman,  that  woman  bears  better  the  reality  of  a  disagreeable 
tiling  than  hearing  mention  of  it.  In  our  travels  we  have  never 
met  an  exception  to  the  rule,  that  the  landlady  Avho  sa}*s  that 
she  never  hail  a  bed-bun  in  tin-  house  has  plenty  of  them;  nor 
of  the  converse  rule,  that  if  the  landlady  judges  that  it  is  within 
the  bounds  of  possibility  that  she  might  have  such  a  visitation 


PARASITIC    INVASIONS   OF    THE   SCALP,    HAIR,    AND   BODY.        '-Yi') 

she  is  among  the  least  likety  of  human  beings  to  suffer  from  the 
pest.  One  kind  of  woman  expects  no  special  immunity  thai  her 
equally  worthy  neighbors  cannot  enjoy;  the  other  takes  it  for 
granted  that  all  will  go  well  of  itself  in  this  best  of  all  possible 
worlds.  One  searches,  and  finds,  if  there  be  aught  to  find,  and, 
finding  or  not  finding,  rests  in  blessed  contentment  that  for  some 
time  to  come  nothing  can  be  found.  The  other  searches  not, 
but  lays  the  sweet  unction  to  her  soul  that  she  is  not  as  other 
women  are,  but  lives  under  a  special  Providence.  When  we 
once  saw  a  dame  so  well-assured,  descanting  on  the  natural  im- 
maculateness  of  her  house,  while  all  the  time  the  very  insect, 
witness  for  the  plaintiff,  was  crawling,  in  plain  sight  to  everybody 
else,  along  the  edge  of  her  spring-bonnet,  we  could  heartily 
exclaim  with  Puck,  "  What  fools  these  mortals  be  !"  Weismann 
mentions,  in  one  of  the  appendices  to  his  work  "  On  Heredity," 
by  way  of  illustrating  the  tenacity  of  the  life  of  bed-bugs,  that 
"they  can  endure  starvation  for  an  astonishingly  long  period, 
and  can  survive  the  most  intense  cold.  Leunis  ("  Zoologie,"  p. 
659)  mentions  the  case  of  a  female  which  was  shut  up  in  a  box 
and  forgotten ;  after  six  months'  starvation  it  was  found,  not 
only  alive,  but  surrounded  by  a  circle  of  lively  young  ones. 
Goze  found  bugs  in  the  hangings  of  an  old  bed  which  had  not 
been  used  for  six  years ;  '  the}-  appeared  like  white  paper.'  I 
have  myself  observed  a  similar  case,  in  which  the  starving 
animals  were  quite  transparent." 

Anywhere,  at  any  time,  however  innocent  we  may  be  of 
neglect,  we  may  have  parasites  brought  to  us  abroad,  or 
introduced  into  our  ver}T  domiciles.  Horrible  to  us  as  may  be 
the  thought,  the  horror  of  it  can  serve  no  good  purpose  but  to 
put  us  on  our  guard  and  keep  us  ever  on  the  alert  to  repel  inva- 
sion. The  contamination  may  be  received  in  public  indoor- 
places,  in  hacks,  in  cars,  or  ma}^  enter  our  houses  in  freshly- 
laundried  clothes.     We  knew  a  gentleman  who,  once  taking  a 


326  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

berth  in  a  dirty  schooner,  in  Lieu  of  the  state-room  which  lie  had 
expected  to  Lave  aboard  of  a  steamboat  which  broke  her  shaft, 
found  the  next  morning  that  his  person  bad  been  disagreeably 
invaded.  It  is  by  recognizing,  do  matter  who  we  are,  that  we 
belong  to  the  mass  of  bumanity,  and  that,  take  what  pains  we 
will,  we  are  still  Liable  to  its  ills,  that  we  incur  through  life  the 
fewest  of  them. 

Scabies,  or  the  itch,  comes  from  an  animal  parasite,  called 
acarus  scabiei.  Even  the  great  Napoleon  once  contracted  this 
disease  from  grasping  the  rammer  of  a  cannoneer  who  was 
suffering  from  the  affection.  During  the  late  war  it  was  very 
prevalent  in  places,  from  the  inevitable  massing  of  men  at  times 
in  crowded  quarters,  amidst  unhygienic  surroundings. 

There  are  three  species  of  lice  with  which  the  human  body 
is* liable  to  be  infested.  These  are,  pediculus  capitis  (the  head- 
louse) ;  pediculus  corporis  (the  body  -louse)  ;  and  pediculus  pubis 
(the  louse  of  the  pubic  regions). 

The  pediculus  capitis  is  found  frequentl}'  among  unclean  and 
badly-nourished  children,  whence  it  may  extend  its  inroads  to 
children  of  a  very  different  condition.  Uncleanliness  among 
certain  classes,  even  when  the  presence  of  the  parasite  is  not 
indicative  of  a  low  tone  of  the  system,  amounting  to  disease,  is 
a  prolific  source  of  contamination.  Mothers,  therefore,  intro- 
ducing into  their  families  nurse-girls  who  have  come  from  inferior 
surroundings,  would  do  well  always  to  see  to  their  condition  and 
personal  habits. 

The  pediculus  corporis  is  to  be  found  chiefly  on  those  per- 
sons who  are  of  habitually  unclean  habits,  or  who  have  no 
opportunity,  through  being  herded  together  as  prisoners  or 
slaves,  to  follow  their  natural  habits  of  cleanliness. 

The  pediculus  pubis  (otherwise  called  the  crab-louse)  is  much 
larger  than  either  of  the  species  mentioned,  and  is  sometimes 
communicated  in  the  manner  already  incidentally  noted. 


PARASITIC   INVASIONS   OF   THE    SCALP,    HAIR,    AND   BODY.        327 

The  treatment  of  these  affections  naturally  begins  by  getting 
rid  of  the  parasites  and  their  eggs,  or  nits,  as  they  are  usually 
called.  They  have  sometimes,  before  this  can  be  accomplished, 
poisoned  the  skin  to  so  great  a  degree  as  to  originate  cutaneous 
disorders. 

Added  to  the  use  of  the  comb  for  removing  the  parasites, 
the  following  substances  are  usefully  employed  for  the  same  pur- 
pose: Naphthol,  mercurial  ointment,  tobacco,  cocculus-indicus, 
staphisagria,  sabadilla,  pyrethrum,  carbolic  acid,  and  sulphur. 
These  can  be  procured  in  the  form  of  powders,  lotions,  and  oint- 
ments, and  some  in  that  of  soaps.  Naphthol  and  corrosive- 
sublimate  soaps  are  well  adapted  to  the  cleanly  removal  of  the 
parasites.  Pure  naphthol  and  pure  kerosene  are  too  inflammable 
and  malodorous  to  be  recommended  as  applications.  If  used, 
they  should  be  rendered  less  dangerous,  and  less  offensive  to  the 
smell,  by  mixing  with  them  some  olive-oil.  Soda,  borax,  vinegar, 
alcohol,  and  dilute  acetic  acid  are  useful  for  destroying  the  nits. 

As,  apart  from  an  invasion  of  these  parasites,  a  low  tone  of 
the  system,  induced  by  poor  and  insufficient  diet,  bad  ventilation, 
and  other  unhygienic  conditions,  is  provocative  of  their  onset, 
constituting  under  the  circumstances  a  true  disease,  it  is  neces- 
sary in  such  cases  that  the  sufferer  should  be  invigorated  by 
tonics,  at  the  same  time  that  all  depressant  influences  are 
removed. 

If  eczema,  or  tetter,  has  supervened  from  the  attacks  of  the 
pediculus  capitis,  it  should  be  treated  by  a  physician.  In  our 
own  medical  work  on  diseases  of  the  skin  we  have  given  much 
instruction  and  many  prescriptions  for  the  treatment  of  these 
parasitic  affections  when  they  amount  to  a  disease,  but  as  they 
are,  as  we  indicated  at  the  beginning, of  sufficient  importance  to 
require  the  direct  advice  of  a  physician,  there  would  be  no  object 
in  setting  down  here  discussions  and  prescriptions  relating  to 
them,  and  intended  only  for  the  eye  of  the  medical  practitioner. 


323  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

To  get  rid  of  bed-bugs  in  beds,  floors,  or  wall-paper,  the 
K'st  course  to  pursue  is  to  wash  every  few  days  the  surface 
where  the  inserts  are  supposed  to  be  lodged  with  a  solution  of 
1  or  2  drachms  of  either  corrosive  sublimate  or  naphthol  to 
the  pint  of  water.  Such  lotions  are  best  applied  to  a  bed  with 
the  tip  of  a  feather,  which  instrument  affords  a  flat  side  carrying 
a  considerable  amount  of  liquid,  and  at  the  same  time  a  thin 
edge  that  will  penetrate  the  smallest  crack. 

The  itching  left  by  the  poison  of  the  bed-bug  can  be  allayed 
by  a  lotion  composed  of  4  ounces  of  camphor-water  and  ^  drachm 
of  powdered  borax,  or  one  composed  of  2  to  4  grains  of  corro- 
sive sublimate  to  the  ounce  of  water.  Another  soothing  lotion 
for  the  same  purpose  is  compounded  of  a  drachm  of  boraeic 
acid,  or  half  a  drachm  of  carbolic  acid,  to  a  pint  of  water. 

The  itching  from  the  flea-bite  is  greatly  relieved  by  alkaline 
lotions,  or  by  a  solution  of  either  naphthol  or  corrosive  subli- 
mate and  olive-oil. 

The  sand-flea,  known  also  as  the  chigre  and  the  jigger,  is 
sometimes  most  anno\Ting.  Oil  of  wintergreen  is  somewhat  of  a 
preventive  of  the  attack  of  this  insect.  The  feet  of  children 
playing  in  the  sand  of  the  coast  during  the  day  should  be  exam- 
ined as  they  are  being  undressed  for  bed  at  night,  if  they  com- 
plain of  any  itching  of  the  parts,  for  these  are  the  favorite  points 
of  attack  of  the  insect. 

The  tick,  which  varies  greatly  in  size  in  different  species, 
ranging  from  that  of  a  grain  of  pepper  to  that  of  a  large  fly, 
quietly  burrows  into  the  skin  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  inflict  pain, 
but  with  the  eventual  result  of  producing  a  sore.  The  best  way 
to  get  rid  of  these  insects  is  to  have  the  spots  where  they  have 
entered  touched  with  a  drop  of  oil.  This  excludes  the  air,  and 
the  insects  are  obliged  literally  to  back  out.  In  parts  of  the 
country,  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  a  day  in  the  woods 
is  inevitably  followed  by  a  profuse  peppering  of  the  back  with 


PARASTTIC   INVASIONS   OF   THE    SCALP,    HAIR,    AND   BODY.       329 

the  species  of  tick  known  from  its  minute  size  as  the  seed-tick. 
Instinct  teaches  the  animals  where  the  most  inaccessible  parts 
of  the  hody  are.  If  another  person  will,  under  these  circum- 
stances, apply  the  oil,  as  just  directed,  the  invaders  are  soon 
brought  to  retreat.  Another  mode  of  repelling  their  attack  is  to 
apply  tobacco-juice,  turpentine,  or  benzine  to  the  part  Attacked, 
any  of  which  applications  will  compel  the  insects  to  withdraw 
from  the  skin.  Never  break  one  of  the  larger  species,  previously 
mentioned,  off  in  the  skin,  for  that  action  is  always  followed  by 
a  festering  sore,  which,  although  minute,  is  annoying. 

There  seems  to  be  no  place  on  the  habitable  globe  free  from 
mosquitoes.  At  certain  seasons,  at  certain  times  of  clay,  they 
swarm  even  in  Alaska,  and  are  observed  in  equally  high  latitudes 
elsewhere.  The}7  are  the  greatest  pest  of  America.  We  have 
been  in  parts  of  the  country  where  the  inhabitants  habitually 
spent  their  evenings  with  their  heads  OArer  a  burning  smudge  of 
some  sort  to  keep  off  the  attacks  of  these  relentless  enemies  of 
man  and  beast.  In  consequence  of  their  attacks,  life  is  in  some 
places  really  not  worth  living,  which  is  a  deplorable  state  of 
things,  when  we  remember  that  no  saint  ever  lived  in  a  mosquito 
country.  When  a  mosquito  is  in  good  health  and  vigorous, 
nothing  deters  it  but  death  from  having  drink.  Die  though  it 
inevitably  does  from  the  mania  a  potu,  example  is  of  no  effect, 
and  all  attempts  to  restrict  it  b}*  pennj^royal  or  prohibition  are 
in  vain ;  it  will  have  nothing  but  high  license.  The  net  is  the 
only  available  thing  for  the  mosquito  ;  that  is,  the  world  for  the 
mosquito,  and  the  net  for  mankind.  But,  if  you  have  been  stung, 
that  is  another  thing  ;  ammonia-water,  peppermint-water,  spirits 
of  camphor,  or  lotions  made  of  borax,  naphthol,  or  corrosive 
sublimate  are  good  for  relieving  the  irritation  caused  by  the 
sting,  and  it  is  often  promptl}'  relieved  by  a  lotion  composed 
of  a  drachm  or  two  of  boracic  acid  to  4  ounces  of  peppermint- 
or  camphor-water. 


330  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

Next  to  the  mosquito,  and  in  some  countries  before  the 
mosquito,  the  flea  ranks  :is  the  most  relentless  foe  of  man.  In 
Italy  bow  many  travelers  have  not  bewailed  their  lot  in  their 
unhappy  visitation,  for  both  flea  and  mosquito  do  love  the  new- 
comer  in  a  land  to  a  degree  not  to  be  accounted  Tor  upon  the 
supposition  of  habit  reconciling  to  the  infliction,  Bui  we  need 
not  look  abroad  to  find  the  flea  in  numbers  and  activity  not  to  be 
ignored,  for  in  parts  of  our  own  count  it  it  has  no  respect  coupled 
with  its  love  of  man.  Some  of  the  most  wretched  nights  that 
we  ever  spent  were  passed  in  his  company  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
Even  within  the  precincts  of  delightful  San  Francisco  we  found 
the  same  kind  of  greeting  in  our  coming,  departure,  and  return, 
and  we  entertained  our  hosts.  That  San  Francisco,  the  blessed, 
should  have  this  affliction  can  only  be  accounted  for  upon  the 
supposition  that  it  is  ordained  that  she  shall  be  continuously 
chastened, lest  the  pride  of  her  people  should  exceed  all  bounds. 
Thus  is  stationed  with  each  of  her  denizens,  as  with  the  ancient 
king,  and  even  accompanies  him  part  way  to  the  East,  the  moni- 
tor who  constantly  repeats  with  a  nip,  "thou  art  mortal,  thou 
art  mortal." 

The  flea  is  rarely  taken  prisoner  in  numbers.  He  is  gener- 
ally only  to  be  subdued  in  single  combat,  and,  like  the  Parthian, 
he  fights  while  flying.  His  cavalry  movements  are  much  im- 
pelled by  insect  powder  sprinkled  in  the  bed  at  night, and  in  the 
parts  of  the  clothing  where  he  is  fondest  of  bivouacking.  One 
of  the  easiest  ways  in  which  he  can  be  snared  is  also  to  many 
persons,  ourselves  included,  most  disagreeable  to  practice.  How- 
ever, as  almost  anything  is  better  than  the  company  of  a  flea,  it 
is  well  to  know  any  method  of  dispensing  with  it.  Having  a 
basin  of  water  ready  at  hand,  habitually  walk  about  your  bed- 
room in  cotton-stockinged  feet.  The  flea  becomes  entangled  and 
helpless  in  the  fuzz  of  the  sole  of  the  stocking.  Caught  between 
the  thumb  and  forefinger,  he  should  be  plunged  into  the  middle 


PARASITIC   INVASIONS   OF   THE    SCALP,    HAIR,    AND   BODY.        331 

of  the  water,  to  make  sure  that  he  shall  not  escape  up  the  side 
of  the  basin.  We  have  in  a  much  afflicted  flea  country  seen 
many  fleas  caught  in  this  way. 

When,  during  the  day,  one,  being  dressed,  cannot  with 
facility  reach  the  flea,  whose  armor  is  proof  against  crush  from 
the  outside,  the  only  way  to  do  is  to  retire  to  one's  chamber,  and 
there,  with  the  basin  of  water  at  hand,  make  a  search  in  every 
garment,  ready  at  a  moment's  notice  to  pounce  with  moistened 
thumb  and  forefinger  upon  the  aggressor.  He  is  sly  and  seeks 
dark  corners  and  crevices,  but  a  little  experience  soon  makes  one 
expert  in  capturing  him.  To  become  accomplished  in  this  is  not 
to  be  despised,- for  a  single  hungry  flea  may  mar  one's  pleasure 
in  the  finest  picture-galleiy,  distract  the  attention  in  an  important 
conversation,  or  increase  the  labor  of  a  task  where  one  requires 
full  possession  of  his  mental  faculties. 

Alkaline,  naphthol,  or  corrosive-sublimate  solutions,  used  as 
lotions,  speedily  relieve  the  itching  from  flea-bites. 

There  are  numerous  other  troublesome  insects  in  the  United 
States, — midgets,  also  called  sand-flies;  ants,  bees,  wasps,  cater- 
pillars, spiders,  and  even  centipedes  and  scorpions.  The  two 
last  mentioned  are,  however,  very  circumscribed  in  their  range. 
The  bites  of  insects  we  often  cannot  avoid,  nor  the  inflamma- 
tion produced  by  the  contact  with  the  hair  of  the  caterpillar, 
but  we  can  easily  relieve  the  pain  and  itching  involved  b}^  the 
use  of  ammonia-water,  or  solutions  of  permanganate  of  potas- 
sium, corrosive  sublimate,  or  naphthol,  or  by  borax  lotions  and 
ointments. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE    COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT    OF    THE   TEETH. 

THAT  the  teeth  are  most  useful  and  beautiful  adjuncts  of  the 
body  is  self-evident.  That  the}r  should  be  so  beautiful, 
while  subserving  so  utilitarian  a  purpose  as  theirs,  is  one  of  the 
insoluble  nrysteries.  A  young  and  pretty  girl,  inspired  by 
affection  for  the  love-lorn  swain,  beams  upon  him  with  her  eyes, 
and  he  reciprocates  the  token  with  his,  both  adding  a  full  view 
of  the  mills  of  their  respective  alimentaiy  apparatus.  This 
takes  place  without  a  thought,  on  the  part  of  either,  that  the 
expression  which  reciprocally  gladdens  their  hearts  and  irradiates 
their  countenances  has  any  other  end  and  aspect  than  a  manifes- 
tation of  beauty.  It  is  true  that  the  whole  outward  appearance 
of  the  human  body  is  seen,  upon  reflection,  to  represent  useful- 
ness underlying  beauty,  and,  indeed,  beauty  conditioned  upon 
usefulness,  but  no  portion  so  flagrantly  as  this  proclaims  its  sub- 
servience to  the  lowliest  duties,  while  lending  itself  to  one  of 
the  greatest  charms  of  person. 

We  thank  kind  fortune  that  the  modern  novel  is  through 
with  the  chariot  of  Phoebus  and  other  Olympian  machinery,  and 
simultaneously,  for  earth,  has  consigned  the  pearly  teeth,  with 
which  heroines  were  alwa}^s  endowed,  to  the  rubbish  of  oblivion. 
Pearly  teeth  have  always  been  repellant  to  the  eye  of  the 
connoisseur  of  female  beauty,  as  indicative  of  fragile  constitu- 
tion. The  two  extremes  of  unsightliness  in  teeth,  not  decaj-ed 
or  crooked,  are  in  those  with  the  translucency  of  pearl  or  the 
cream-color  of  ivory.  Between  these  two  extremes  lies  beauty 
of  color  in  teeth.  As  to  their  form,  elongated  teeth  are  not 
handsome,  nor  are  those  which  are  distinctively  short.  The}' 
both,  particularly  the  first,  indicate  constitution  which  is  not 

(333) 


3o4  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    l'KRSONAL    BEAUTY. 

robust.  To  be  bandsome,  teeth  must  be  fine  in  both  form  and 
color.  Willi  these  two  attributes  combined  in  the  liighesl 
degree,  wit h  immaculate  purity,  there  is  no  attribute  that  can  so 
much  enhance  the  beauty  of  a  bandsome  lace,  or  better  redeem 
the  plainness  of  the  ugliest. 

The  first,  milk,  temporary,  or  deciduous  teeth,  for  they  are 
known  by  all  these  names,  are  twenty  in  number,  ten  in  each 
jaw.  The  permanent  teeth,  so-called  (would  that  one  could  say 
so  literally),  are  thirty-two  in  number,  sixteen  in  each  jaw. 

Teeth  are  formed  of  enamel  and  dentine.  There  is  a  very 
thin  layer  of  what  is  called  cementum,  around  the  fang,  or  root, 
of  the  tooth,  but  this  is  so  inconsiderable  that  we  may  omit  it 
from  our  present  inquiry.  The  enamel  is  harder  than  the 
dentine,  and  lies  on  the  crown  of  the  tooth  in  nodules  thinning 
to  a  laver  ending  in  a  mere  film  at  the  neck  of  the  tooth,  the 
place  where  it  enters  the  gum.  The  dentine,  the  softer  bone, 
called  also  the  ivory  of  the  tooth,  surrounds  the  pulp-cavity,  in 
which  lies  the  pulp,  the  generatrix  and  preserver  of  the  tooth  in 
every  part.  Both  of  these  kinds  of  bone,  the  enamel  and  the 
dentine,  are  harder  than  any  other  bones  of  the  body,  because 
they  contain  a  greater  percentage  of  bone-earth  and  less  bone- 
cartilage  than  the  bones  of  the  body  do.  The  varying  propor- 
tions of  bone-cartilage  to  bone-earth  in  all  the  bones  of  the  bod}', 
including  the  teeth,  recognize  the  varying  needs  of  different 
structures.  Hardness  and  toughness  in  these  substances 
respectively, — the  hardness  in  the  bone-earth,  the  toughness  in 
the  bone-cartilage, — when  combined  in  different  proportions, 
fulfill  all  the  varying  requirements  for  the  solid  portions  of 
the  body. 

The  enamel  contains  only  about  3\  per  cent,  of  bone-carti- 
lage, the  rest  of  it  being  bone-earth.  The  dentine,  on  the 
contrary,  contains  28  per  cent,  of  bone-cartilage  and  72  per 
cent,  of  bone-earth.     Compare  these  proportions  with  those  of 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE   AND   TREATMENT    OF   THE    TEETH.  335 

ordinary  bone.  The  ordinary  bone  of  the  human  body,  varying 
in  composition  in  different  parts  of  the  body,  with  sex,  age, 
health,  and  strength,  contains,  upon  the  average,  about  one-third 

of  bone-cartilage  and  two-thirds  of  bone-earth.  The  hone  of  the 
teeth  varies,  too,  with  these  conditions,  especially  with  age.  It 
is  seen,  however,  that,  speaking  in  general  terms,  the  larger  the 
proportion  of  bone-earth  in  bone,  the  harder  the  bone  is,  and 
that,  on  account  of  its  largest  proportion  of  that  substance, 
enamel  must  stand  first  in  hardness,  followed  by  dentine.  In 
fact,  the  enamel  is  the  hardest  of  all  organic  tissues. 

No  matter  what  the  kind  of  bone,  it  requires  for  its 'healthy 
formation  nutritious  and  varying  food.  The  same  deficiency  in 
these  elements  that,  with  foul  air  and  generally  unhygienic 
surroundings,  leads  to  children  having  the  cartilaginous  limbs 
of  rickets,  leads  also  to  their  having  stunted  and  defective  teeth. 
Teeth  never  become  otherwise  than  as  they  were  nourished  and 
grew.  We  have  seen  little  children  habitually  set  down  to  table 
to  a  meagre  breakfast  of  cake  and  pie  and  preserves,  with  not 
an  egg,  and  rarely  a  scrap  of  meat  at  any  time ;  and  this  too 
where  poverty  did  not  compel,  but  where  there  was  nothing 
standing  in  the  way  of  their  well-being  but  the  densest  ignorance 
on  the  part  of  their  parents.  Yet  these  children  were  expected 
to  thrive  on  such  pabulum.  They  had  not  the  wherewithal  to 
sustain  a  health}7  vitality  in  an}^  organ,  and  every  detail  of  their 
bodies  was  impoverished  and  weazen.  Of  all  miserable  wa^-s  of 
saving,  to  starve  the  stomach  is  the  worst.  No  better  legacy 
can  any  father  leave  a  child  than  a  healthy  stomach.  With  it 
the  child,  grown  to  manhood  or  womanhood,  can  front  the  "world 
and  dire  adversity ;  but,  without  it,  quails  before  the  world  as  a 
creature  of  nerves  to  whom  existence  is  inexorable.  The  ten  thou- 
sand devils  of  dyspepsia  wait  on  the  days  and  nights  of  the  richest 
who  in  early  life  have  been  denied  what  nature  craves  as  the  first 
conditions  of  continued  vigorous  life, — food  plentiful  and  various. 


336  11KHKD1TY.    EEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

The  modern  jaw  is  contracting.  Such  :i  change  is  strictly 
in  accordance  w  ith  present  conditions  of  human  evolution.  Man 
was  prognathous  at  one  time;  indeed  is,  in  certain  Low  races  ami 
individuals,  even  now.     His  canine  teeth  were  <>nce  much  Larger 

than  they  are  now.  They  were  needed  ill  his  savage  state  as 
weapons,  and  with  them  he  tore  his  ill-prepared  meat-food. 
Civilization,  through  the  art  of  cooking,  renders  food  tempting, 
various,  and  digestible.  It  serves  meat  so  that  it  does  not 
require  to  be  rent  as  by  wild  beasts.  It  is  only  ignorance  that 
derides  the  art  of  cooking.  What  is  vaunted  often  as  plain 
cooking  is  nothing  but  confession  of  ignorance  of  the  art.  In 
proportion  as  it  is  an  art,  is  it  best  fitted  for  the  needs  of 
civilization. 

As  we  have  seen, nature  subordinates,  suppresses,  and  in  the 
lontr  run  discards  that  which  is  no  longer  of  service.  The  fact 
of  use  and  disuse,  brought  about  by  nature's  compulsion  to 
use  or  disuse,  through  natural  selection,  effects  many  changes. 
Dentists  are  right  in  their  observation  that  the  most  modern, 
civilized  human  jaw,  as  compared  with  the  jaw  even  within  fifty 
years,  has  contracted,  for  the  present  range  and  phase  of 
civilization  are  intensified  beyond  all  previous  experience  on  the 
globe. 

Most  persons  think  of  the  tooth  as  a  solid  bone.  It  is,  on 
the  contrary,  a  living  structure.  Not  only  do  nerve-filaments 
and  blood-vessels  pass  through  the  end  of  the  roots,  and  thereby 
connect  the  pulp  of  the  tooth  with  the  general  nervous  system 
and  circulation  of  the  body,  but  from  the  pulp  pass  into  the 
dentine  an  immense  number  of  tubules  containing  filaments  of 
soft  bone-making  substance,  the  dentine  being  thus  injected  and 
nourished  throughout  its  whole  mass. 

The  enamel  is  at  its  thickest  points  as  much  as  a  sixteenth 
of  an  inch  through,  and  consists  of  little  six-sided  prisms  placed 
side  by  side,  and  held  together  by  some  exquisitely  fine  cement- 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT    OF    THE   TEETH.  337 

ing  substance.  These  standing  upright,  invested  with  a  lamina 
of  very  fine  bone-cuticle,  naturally  form  a  barrier  to  the  invasion 
of  decay,  but  if,  through  weakness  of  constitution  or  careless- 
ness, the  surface  be  attacked,  the  structure  is,  as  its  formation 
clearly  shows,  liable  to  rapid  disintegration.  Decay,  having  pene- 
trated the  enamel  and  reached  the  dentine,  makes  havoc  in  that 
relatively  soft  bone,  the  pulp  of  the  tooth  becomes  diseased, 
and  toothache  may  be  the  first  sign  observed  of  the  fact  that 
disease  has  reached  the  citadel  of  the  tooth's  life. 

In  the  preservation. of  the  teeth  two  dangers  are  especially 
to  be  guarded  against, — the  lodgment  of  particles  of  food  be- 
tween the  teeth,  and  the  accumulation  of  tartar  on  them.  The 
first  of  these  dangers  can  easily  be  avoided  by  passing,  nightly, 
and  after  meals,  if  there  be  time,  between  the  teeth  of  both  jaws 
a  thick  piece  of  silk  thread,  or  even  of  home-spun  thread,  if  no 
better  kind  be  procurable.' 

The  presence  of  tartar  causes  a  recession  of  the  gums. 
This  occurs  partly  from  the  fact  of  the  irritant  composition  of 
tartar,  and  partly  from  that  of  its  being  a  foreign  body  impinging 
on  the  delicate  edge  of  the  gum  inclosing  the  tooth.  With  some 
persons  the  chemical  composition  of  the  saliva  is  such  that  the 
deposition  of  tartar  is  always  great,  and  assiduous  care  of  the 
teeth  is  required  to  keep  them  free  from  it.  Tartar  consists 
chiefly  of  earthy  phosphates.  It  is  a  complex  secretion  derived 
from  three  glands,  and  is  chiefly  alkaline  in  its  chemical  reaction. 
Klebs,  a  very  high  authority  on  this  subject,  has  found  with  the 
microscope  that  it  is  full  of  micro-organisms,  and  he  believes  that 
these  organisms  assimilate  matter  in  the  saliva,  and  cast  it  down 
in  the  form  of  calcium-salts.  If  he  be  correct  in  this  view,  the 
fact  readily  accounts  for  the  rapidity  with  which  tartar  some- 
times invades  the  root  of  the  tooth  under  the  gum.  When  once 
it  has  begun  decidedly  to  invade  the  root,  the  periosteum,  the 
lining  membrane  of  the  alveole  or  socket  of  the  tooth,  becomes 


338  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

inflamed,  constituting  the  disease  of  dental  periostitis.    It  is 

thni  :i  question  of  only  a  very  short  time  when  the  tooth  shall, 
from  the  degeneration  and  absorption  of  the  tissue  of  the  socket, 
begin  to  loosen  and  project  beyond  the  line  of  the  other  teeth, 
and  either  fall  out  or  require  removal. 

It  is  customary,  when  the  recession  of  the  gums  from  this 
or  another  cause  begins  t<>  take  place,  to  apply  tincture  of  myrrh 
to  the  parts  to  stimulate  the  circulation  and  remove  their  tend- 
ency to  flabbiness.  The  astringent  and  other  qualities  of  myrrh 
are  doubtless  very  beneficial  for  the  purpose,  but  it  may  well  be 
questioned  if,  when  the  disease  has  proceeded  so  far  as  to  in- 
volve the  periosteum,  anything  can  be  done  to  check  it.  The 
best  that  can  be  hoped  for  is  to  palliate  and  retard  the  encroach- 
ment of  the  disease.  With  this  end  in  view,  we  give,  at  the  end 
of  this  chapter,  three  formulae  which  will  be  found  useful  for 
such  treatment. 

The  part  of  wisdom  is  to  look  by  our  practice  to  the  pre- 
vention of  the  disease,  rather  than  to  endeavoring  to  stay  its 
ravages  after  it  has  once  attacked.  What  we  would  suggest  as 
a  universal  practice,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  we  are  not  address- 
ing our  advice  solely  to  the  pampered  children  of  fortune,  or 
to  those  who,  without  being  such,  possess  ample  means  and 
leisure,  but  to  the  millions  who  are  hurried  through  life,  who  must 
neglect  the  brushing  of  the  teeth  on  man)-  occasions,  or  who, 
brushing  them,  do  so  inadequately  :  what  we  would  suggest,  we 
would  say,  in  view  of  all  these  conditions,  is  the  adoption  of  a 
simple  practice  long  followed  by  the  Irish.  Clean  the  teeth  and 
gums  occasionally  with  common  salt,  rubbed  without  violence 
into  the  gums  above  and  below  with  a  piece  of  soft  muslin. 
Under  the  regimen  of  an  occasional  cleaning  of  the  teeth  and 
gums  with  this  substance,  all  deposits  injurious  to  them,  whether 
micro-organic  or  otherwise,  are  utterl}'  destroyed. 

Do  not  forget,  in  cleaning  the  teeth,  no  matter  with  what 


THE   COSMETIC   CARE    AND   TREATMENT    OF    THE    TEETH.         339 

you  may  clean  them,  whether  as  an  instrument  or  a  cleansing 
substance,  that  the}r  should  be  cleaned  inside  as  well  as  outside. 
The  deposit  of  tartar  is  frequently  very  much  greater  inside  than 
outside  of  the  teeth,  and,  even  in  case  there  is  no  abnormal  de- 
posit of  tartar,  the  teeth  are  not  properly  cared  for  to  insure 
their  lasting  if  their  inside  surfaces  are  neglected.  In  using  a 
brush,  do  not  forget  that  the  circulation  of  the  gums  should  lie 
gently  stimulated  by  it.  For  this  reason  it  is  best  always  to  use 
a  moderately  stiff  brush,  not  one  that  is  uncompromisingly  hard. 

We  have  in  America  the  best  dentists  of  the  world.  When 
a  child  is  getting  its  second  teeth,  and  they  are  not  coming  in 
with  perfect  regularity,  take  the  child  at  once  to  a  first-rate  den- 
tist for  advice  and  treatment.  Thus  you  may  insure  it  comfort 
throughout  life,  and  perhaps  guarantee  it  against  a  deformity 
easily  preventable. 

Many  are  the  varieties  of  dentifrice, — powders,  pastes,  and 
lotions.  Some  of  these  are  extremely  injurious  to  the  substance 
of  the  tooth.  The  "  street-fakir  "  who  removes  the  tartar  instan- 
taneously from  the  small  boy's  teeth,  and  leaves  in  its  place  a 
white,  glistening  surface  for  the  admiration  of  the  gaping  crowd, 
has  really  removed,  with  some  corrosive  substance,  a  goodly  por- 
tion of  the  enamel  of  the  tooth,  which  can  never  be  restored. 
Dentifrice  is  very  commonly  made  of  some  powdered  bark, 
mixed  with  pulverized  charcoal  and  some  acidulous  salt,  such  as 
cream  of  tartar.  Orris-root  is  perhaps  one  of  the  ingredients 
that  are  most  largely  used.  Pulverized  charcoal,  although  very 
antiseptic  and  purifying,  is  rather  too  harsh  a  substance,  even  in 
that  finely-divided  state,  to  be  used  habitually  on  the  teeth. 
Tooth-powders  and  tooth-pastes  seek  to  combine  the  polishing 
effect  of  finery-divided  substances  with  antiseptic  qualities. 
Tooth-washes  are  simply  for  antiseptic  purposes  and  for  render- 
ing the  mouth  and  breath  fragrant.  In  case  one  has  a  good 
dentist,  the  very  best  way  is  to  refer  all  matters  concerning  the 


340  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

treatment  of  one's  teeth,  including  cleansing  substances  for  them. 
to  bis  judgment, as  the  one  best  situated  to  know  the  require- 
ments of  one's  individual  case, 

The  following  is  a  good  prescription  for  tooth-powder: — 

Precipitated  chalk, 1  ounce. 

Ground  orris-root, 1  ounce. 

Oil  of  roses 1  drop. 

Brush  the  teeth  with  a  moderately  Btiff  tooth-brush  dipped  in  thi8,whichie 
a  Bimple  but  effective  and  harmless  tooth-powder. 

The  following  is  an  excellent  tooth-wash  : — 

Salicylate  of  sodium, 2  drachms. 

Tincture  of  myrrh, 2  ounces. 

Gaultheria  (wintergreen), 5  drops. 

Distilled  witch-hazel, 4  ounces. 

To  be  applied  every  day  to  the  teeth  with  a  stiff  brush. 

The  three  following  prescriptions  are  for  shrinkage  of  the 

gums  : — 

1.  Chloride  of  zinc, 20  grains. 

Water, 1  drachm. 

Applytothe  gums  every  other  day  with  a  pi'vr  <>f  raw  cotton,  being  careful 
not  to  get  any  of  the  mixture  dowu  the  throat,  and  rinse  out  the  mouth  at  once 
with  water. 

2.  Tannic  acid, 40  grains. 

Tincture  of  myrrh, 1  ounce. 

Rose-water, 1  ounce. 

Use  twice  daily  by  moistening  with  it  a  piece  of  raw  cotton,  or  applying  it 
with  the  end  of  the  finger  over  the  gums  inside  and  outside. 

3.  Iodine, 10  drops. 

Iodide  of  potassium, 8  grains. 

Glycerin, 1  ounce. 

Pencil  over  the  gums  once  a  day. 


..CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE   CONSTRUCTION    AND   CARE    OF    TIIE    EYE. 

THE  eye  is,  metaphorically  as  well  as  otherwise,  the  most 
abused  organ  in  the  world.  In  the  old  nautical  novel, 
which  presumably  portrays  life  as  it  was  at  sea  a  hundred  years 
or  so  ago,  the  old  salt  always  affectionately  shivered  his  mess- 
mate's timbers  and  damned  his  eyes  ;  nor,  as  to  the  eyes,  has  the 
practice' altogether  ceased  to  the  present  da}'  on  both  land  and 
sea.  So  far  as  we  are  aware,  no  language  but  English  is- so  reck- 
less in  the  matter,  and,  as  for  the  actual  precautionary  care  be- 
stowed upon  the  eye,  different  peoples,  nations,  and  individuals 
are  prett}'  much  alike  in  incautiously  squandering  the  treasure 
of  its  sight. 

The  time  could  not  be  more  opportune  than  now  to  say  a 
warning  word  about  the  usage  to  which  the  e3re  is  subjected  at 
present  in  this  country.  We  live  in  the  land  of  the  practical 
plumber,  as  if  a  man  could  be  a  plumber  at  all  unless  he  were 
practical.  We  live  in  the  land  of  the  undertaker,  willing  to  un- 
dertake anything,  whether  or  not  it  be  within  the  sphere  of  his 
knowledge  on  the  subject.  The  land  swarms  with  opticians  prac- 
ticing as  oculists,  and  of  journeymen-workmen  and  street-fakirs 
practicing  as  both.  The  public  is  being  exploited  in  the  interest 
of  the  sale  of  eye-glasses,  while  reputable  and  skillful  oculists, 
than  whom  there  are  none  better  in  the  world  than  here,  lose  the 
practice  whose  possession  it  would  be  much  more  to  the  advan- 
tage of  the  public  to  have,  than  theirs  to  secure.  Sensational 
advertisements  flaunt  in  the  public  prints  with  diagrams  for 
self-testing  of  the  eye,  to  which  attention  is  directed  by  some 
such  legend  as,  "  Are  you  astigmatic  ?  If  so,  go  to  Tom,  Dick, 
or  Harry  [as  the  case  may  be],  and  be  fitted  with  glasses." 

(341) 


342  HEREDITY/,    HEALTH,    AND    I'ERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

First  of  all,  the  public  dors  not  know  that  there  are  regular 
astigmatism  and  irregular  astigmatism;  and  when  we  say  that 
there  is  regular  astigmatism,  we  say  in  effect  that  the  best  natu- 
ral eye  is  astigmatic.  The  best  natural  eye  is,  we  repeat,  regu- 
larly astigmatic ;  the  condition  is  consequent  upon  an  organic 
defect  of  the  eye,  and,  therefore,  to  tell  the  public  generally  that 
persons  had  better  beware  lest  they  be  astigmatic  gives  them 
pretty  much  the  same  kind  of  mental  disturbance  as  that  expe- 
rienced by  the  very  little  boy  when  told  by  a  slightly  bigger 
companion  that  he  has  a  bone  in  his  leg. 

The  major  axis  of  the  eye  subtends  a  natter  arc  (the  hori- 
zontal curve  of  the  eye)  than  the  arc  subtended  by  the  minor 
axis  (the  vertical  curve  of  the  eye).  Hence,  when  we  focus  a 
vertical  line  with  the  sight,  a  similar  line  horizontally  placed 
with  reference  to  it  is  somewhat  out  of  focus,  and  vice  verm. 
Hence,  also,  when  we  look  at  parallel  vertical  lines,  they  seem 
farther  apart  than  do  the  same  lines  when  placed  horizontally. 
It  follows  from  this  fact  that  the  same  lines,  turned  slowly 
around  in  front  of  us,  will  present  all  apparent  gradations  of 
distance  apart,  between  their  apparent  distance  apart  when  held 
vertically  and  their  apparent  distance  apart  when  held  hori- 
zontally. 

If  the  law  should  protect  the  public,  as  it  is  now  beginning 
to  do,  from  the  tampering  with  certain  medical  matters  of  men 
not  medically  educated,  it  would  also  seem  that  the  quackery 
of  treating  the  eye  b}'  an}-  one  but  trained  oculists  should  be 
legally  prevented.  A  whole  population  of  midgets  has  lately 
sprung  up,  looking  like  little  goggle-eyed  sea-monsters,  who, 
from  the  very  fact  of  their  enormous  numbers,  prove  the  im- 
possibility of  their  having  all  been  under  the  care  of  trained 
oculists,  and  that  the  advertising  nets  have  not  been  cast  in  vain 
into  the  vasty  deep  of  human  credulity. 

Enough  for  the  present  on  this  branch  of  our  topic  has  been 


THE   CONSTRUCTION    AND   CARE   OF   THE    EYE.  343 

said.  For  the  reasons  assigned,  our  advice  to  you  is  (if  you 
think  that  you  have  anything  the  mutter  with  your  eyes,  or  even 
suspect  that  you  may  possibly,  without  actually  knowing  it, 
have  something,  either  organic  or  functional,  the  matter  with 
your  eyes,  or  you  wish  to  establish  the  fact,  once  for  all,  that  at 
least  constitutionally  your  eyes  are  normal)  to  go  to  an  oculist, 
a  real  oculist,  not  a  quack  nor  a  mere  optician.  The  cost  will  be 
as  nothing  compared  with  that  whieh  may  be  entailed  by  going 
to  any  one  but  an  expert  for  advice  as  to  so  delicate  an  organ  as 
the  eye. 

Here,  incidentally,  we  avail  ourselves  of  the  opportunity  to 
say  also  a  cautionary  word  as  to  an  injurious  practice  which  is 
limited  to  the  members  of  one  sex,  which  is  not  prevalent  among 
them,  and  which  is  yet  sufficiently  followed  to  warrant  a  passing 
notice  here.  An  oculist  properly  applies  belladonna  to  the  eye 
with  his  special  object  of  dilating  the  pupil,  but  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  the  same  thing  can  be  indulged  in  at  pleasure  without 
damaging  the  organ.  Yet  we  are  sometimes  asked  by  j'oung 
women  if  the  application  will  do  the  eye  any  harm,  the  inference 
being  obvious.  We  therefore  say  here,  as  we  have  had  occasion 
several  times  to  say  orally,  that  such  a  practice  is  injurious.  It 
stands  to  l'eason,  even  to  common  sense,  because  the  dilatation 
is  artificial.  Nature  does  not  kindly  tolerate  tampering  with  the 
mechanism  of  the  body.  Girls  also  sometimes  ask  us  if  arsenic 
tablets  will  do  them  harm,  the  inference  again  being  obvious. 
Arsenic  is  a  very  useful  drug  in  certain  diseases,  but  not  useful 
in  health.  The  giving  of  drugs  in  diseases  is  a  choice  between 
evils,  but  in  health  there  is  nothing  but  good,  the  greatest  of  all 
earthly  possessions.  •  Foolish  is  the  girl  who  seeks  to  make  her 
ej^es  full-orbed  with  belladonna,  or  sparkle  from  sips  of  cologne, 
or  give  plumpness  to  her  figure  with  arsenic.  The  only  reproach 
that  has  ever  been  justly  made  against  American  beaut}',  that  it 
does  not  last,  she  hastens  to  justify  by  making  a  laboratory  of 


344  HEREDITY,    BEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

herself.  All  these  are  meretricious  aids  thai  lead,  no  one  who 
begins  to  Else  them  can  tell  whither,  bul  to  certain  loss  in  some 

form.  This  work  has  been  written  in  vain  if  it  has  uot  shown 
thai  the  only  perennial  source  of  youthfulness  and  beauty  is  the 
fountain  of  H\'geia,  the  goddess  of  health. 

The  eye  is  beautiful,  when  beautiful,  in  all  colors.  This 
may  be  acknowledged  by  every  one,  although  every  one  has  in- 
dividual preference  for  a  certain  color  of  eye.  Close  observation 
will  prove  these  statements  true.  The  French  have  discovered 
that  the  generally  much-despised  green  eye  is,  when  line,  prob- 
ably the  handsomest  eye  in  existence,  because,  as  compared  with 
any  other  equally  tine,  capable  of  a  larger  range  of  lustrous  tints 
and  consequent  range  of  expression.  One  difference  among 
e3'es  that  is  related  to  great  difference  in  beauty  among  them 
seems  to  have  almost  escaped  attention.  This  is  the  color  of 
the  cornea,  the  so-called  white  of  the  eye.  In  the  negro,  white 
as  is  the  general  effect  of  the  cornea  as  compared  with  the 
darkness  of  the  skin  of  the  face,  near  observation  of  it  shows 
that  it  is  of  a  yellowish  cast.  This  is  always  an  unsightly  tint 
for  the  cornea.  It  is  seen  in  the  white  race  in  the  case  of 
bilious  persons,  and  markedly  in  cases  of  jaundice.  But  neither 
is  the  cornea  handsome  when  it  is  very  white.  Then  it  has  a 
glairy  effect,  like  that  of  the  white  of  an  egg.  The  handsome 
cornea  is-  tinged  with  the  most  delicate  violet  color.  The  e3'e 
depends,  in  sum,  for  its  beauty,  independent  of  its  particular 
color,  upon  the  just  degree  of  globular  effect,  the  curves  of  the 
veiling  lids  and  lashes,  the  violet-tinged  clearness  of  the  cornea, 
and  the  size  of  the  iris,  popularly  known  as  the  pupil,  with 
reference  to  the  whole  orb. 

A  very  popular  error  about  the  eye  is  that  it  varies  exceed- 
ingly in  size  among  different  races,  and,  indeed,  among  indi- 
viduals of  the  same  race.  The  fact  is  that  the  globe  of  the  eye 
varies  very  little  as  to  size  among  different  races  and  individuals. 


THE    CONSTRUCTION    AND   CARE   OF   THE   EYE.  345 

What  leads  to  this  mistake  is  the  correct  perception  of  the  very 
different  degree  in  different  persons  in  which  the  hull  of  the  eye 
appears  as  set  in  the  socket;  the  extreme  of  insertion  making  it 
look  as  if,  were  it  left  to  itself,  it  might  fall  inside  of  the  socket, 
and  the  extreme  protrusion  of  it,  as  if,  under  similar  circum- 
stances, it  might  fall  outside.  In  the  Mongolian  race  the  e}-es 
seem  to  be  set  slanting  in  the  head,  but  that  is  an  effect  which 
is  produced  by  a  droop  of  the  inner  part  of  the  upper  eyelid,  a 
characteristic  of  the  race,  and  which,  when  occurring  as  an 
abnormality,  is  known  among  us  by  the  medical  term  of 
epicanthis. 

The  following  will  afford  a  sufficient!}-  accurate  notion  of 
the  structure  of  the  eye,  omitting  details  that  would  only  serve 
to  embarrass  the  conception  of  the  general  reader. 

Very  nearly  four-fifths  of  the  globe  of  the  eye  at  the  rear  is 
composed  of  a  tough,  whitish,  opaque  membrane,  called  the 
sclerotic  membrane.  This  is  continuous  with  a  translucent 
membrane,  which  occupies  almost  one-fifth  of  the  front  of  the 
eye,  called  the  cornea.  To  sa}'  that  the  first  membrane,  the 
sclerotic,  is,  sometimes  called  the  opaque  cornea  shows  the 
general  relations  between  the  two  substances.  So  we  have,  to 
begin  with  in  our  conception,  a  globe  formed,  at  the  rear  and 
sides,  of  an  opaque  membrane,  with  a  small,  circular,  convex 
membrane  let  into  its  front  as  a  window-pane,  and  for  the  same 
purpose  as  a  window-pane  is  used — the  admission  of  light.  The 
physical  apparatus  constituted  by  this  globe  and  its  attachments 
is  similar  in  principle  and  analogous  in  processes  to  the  camera- 
obscura,  with  which  photographs  are  taken. 

In,  and  just  back  of,  the  centre  of  the  pane  of  the  corneal  or 
transparent,  horny  substance  is  the  iris,  the  richl}' -colored  circle 
that  constitutes  the  chief  beauty  of  the  eye,  which  circle,  by 
means  of  its  dilating  and  constricting  muscles,  automatically 
increases  and  diminishes  in  diameter  the  opening  in  its  centre, 


3-1 G         HKRKIHTY.  HEALTH,  AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

called  the  pupil, in  accordance  with  the  desirability  of  the  admis- 
sion of  more  or  less  Light  to  the  interior  of  the  eye.  The  iris  is 
suspended  in  an  aqueous  or  watery  humor, and  in  the  rear  of  the 

opening  of  tin-  pupil  through  it  there  is  a  small  lens  of  crystal- 
line humor,  by  means  of  which  the  rays  of  light  received  by  the 
eye  are  refracted  through  a  vitreous  or  glassy  humor  upon  a 
dark  screen  at  the  back  of  the  eye. 

This  dark  screen  at  the  back  of  the  eye,  called  the  retina, 
corresponds  with  the  sensitive  plate  placed  for  the  reception  of 
the  picture  in  the  photographic  camera-obscura.  Carrying  out 
the  analogy  a  step  farther,  we  might  add  that  the  light  from 
objects  in  the  outer  world,  entering  the  eye  and  passing  through 
its  lens,  forms  a  negative  picture  on  the  retina,  which  picture  is 
"developed"  by  the  brain,  and,  as  a  last  process,  presented  to 
the  mind.  By  what  intermediation  the  final  wonderful  leap  is 
made,  of  translation  of  mere  physical  conditions  into  psychical 
terms,  is  now  and  must  forever  remain  an  insoluble  mystery. 

To  recapitulate, — the  eye  receives,  through  the  cornea,  light 
from  the  outer  world  into  its  inner  chambers.  The  rays  received, 
sensibly  parallel,  are  refracted  through  the  lens  so  as  to  appear 
on  the  retina  in  their  due  relations  to  each  other, — reversed,  but 
correctly  interpreted  by  the  brain.  The  intensity  of  the  rays  is 
regulated  by  the  increase  or  decrease  of  the  opening  formed 
by  the  pupil.  The  lens,  back  of  the  pupil,  combines  these  rays 
in  a  picture  corresponding  to  that  in  the  outer  world,  the  picture 
falling  on  the  screen  of  the  retina.  The  optic  nerve,  through 
which  the  brain  receives  the  linal  impression, is  closely  associated 
with  the  retina. 

This  is,  in  brief,  the  mechanism  for  seeing.  It  would  not 
perhaps  interest  the  reader  to  go  more  minutely  into  examina- 
tion of  this  wonderful  structure,  through  whose  instrumentality 
man  is  brought  into  close  relations  with  the  universe,  and  the 
attempt,  as  we  said  at  the  beginning,  might  lead  to  obscuring 


THE   CONSTRUCTION    AND   CARE   OF    THE   EYE.  347 

the  general  clear  conception  instead  of  expanding  it.  Suffice  it 
to  say,  in  conclusion,  that  here  but  a  fraction  of  the  wonderful 
truth  has  been  told,  and  if  any  reader,  attracted  by  what  has 
been  mentioned  here,  should  wish  to  learn  more  on  the  subject, 
he  will  find  its  literature  extensive  and  most  interesting. 

The  eye  is,  nevertheless,  not  a  perfect  organ.  It  is  liable, 
even  at  its  best  manifestation,  to  be  deceived  in  color-effects 
following  each  other,  or  coincident  in  time,  and  many  persons 
possess  the  organ  so  chromatieallj'  imperfect  as  to  be  largely 
color-blind.  The  physical  causes  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of 
the  perception  of  color  are  too  obscure,  and  the  subject,  conse- 
quently, too  abstruse  to  be  discussed  here.  According  to  our 
own  notion,what  is  called  the  Young-Helmholtz  theory  as  to  the 
causes  of  the  perception  of  color  in  all  its  gradations  is  the  most 
closely  accordant  of  any  theories  on  the  subject  with  the  facts 
in  our  possession.  According  to  this  theory  there  are,  in  fact, 
only  three  fundamental  colors  concerned  in  the  production  of 
the  tints  that  we  perceive,  and  the  variety  of  these  depends  upon 
an  arrangement  of  the  color-mechanism  of  the  eye,  by  which  the 
three  fundamental  colors  are  so  combined  in  varying  degrees  as 
to  present  the  infinitude  of  tints  that  we  recognize.  This  theory 
can  be  properlj'  elucidated  only  by  means  of  a  diagrammatic 
representation  and  an  elaborate  discussion,  which  would  be  out 
of  place  here. 

Returning  to  practical  matters  for  the  million,  we  conclude 
with  a  few  remarks  as  to  them. 

No  general  amelioration  of  the  tendency  to  all  sorts  of 
abuse  of  the  eye  can  be  effected  but  by  general  appreciation  of 
the  fact  that  all  organs  of  the  body  are  instruments,  similar  to 
other  instruments  in  their  liability  to  injury,  and  the  certainty 
to  which  they  are  doomed,  even  with  the  best  care,  to  wear  out 
in  the  course  of  time.  This  fact  should  be  well  pondered  as 
especially  cogent   with  reference   to   the    exceedingly   delicate 


348  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

instrument  of  the  eye,  if  we  would  have  it  lust  its  allotted 
aormal  duration  of  usefulness,  which  varies  greatly  in  different 
individuals.  The  greatest  habitual  carelessness  is  observable 
among  people  generally  as  to  avoiding  straining  the  sight.  For 
one  person  in  a  thousand  who  habitually  places  himself  or  her- 
self in  the  best  position  to  read  or  to  write,  the  remainder  seem 
utterly  indifferent  or  ignorant  on  the  subject;  yet  every  indi- 
vidual eye  lias,  like  any  other  individual  organ  or  mechanical 
instrument,  just  so  much  capacity,  and  no  more,  for  exercise  of 
its  mechanism  without  damage  to  it.  There  is  no  more  desirable 
practice  with  reference  to  the  use  of  the  eve  than  never  to  fail, 
in  reading,  or  writing,  or  sewing,  to  put  one's  self  in  the  very 
best  attitude  for  the  comfort  of  the  organ  while  being  exercised, 
and  this  is,  seated  with  the  source  of  light  hack  of  the  eye  and 
falling  on  the  book  or  writing-paper,  the  best  light  for  writing 
passing  over  the  left  shoulder,  so  as  to  avoid  having  a  shadow 
from  the  writing-hand.  Trilling  as  this  practice  seems  as  equal 
to  insure  an  end,  it  is  not  trilling  in  its  saving  effect  as  the 
practice  of  a  life-time.  The  amount  of  light  is  another  consider- 
ation. We  should  not  attempt  to  read  or  write  with  a  light  so 
weak  as  to  require  from  the  eyes  a  perceptible  effort  to  distin- 
guish the  characters  before  us.  The  duration  of  continuous 
employment  of  the  eyes  is  another  important  consideration. 
One  should  carefully  gauge  his  own  individual  capacity  for 
duration  of  the  exercise,  and  stop  before  there  is  the  slightest 
feeling  of  tire.  A  very  good  practice  in  reading  is  occasionally 
to  let  the  eyes  roam  from  the  book  around  the  walls  of  the 
room,  and  return  to  it  by  a  long  circuit.  This  operation  has  the 
effect  of  varying  the  focus  of  the  eye,  and  affording  great  relief 
in  the  tension  of  its  continuous  employment.  The  same  plan 
as  that  described  for  indoors  applies  to  outdoors, — the  eye 
should  look  from  the  relatively  dark  place  to  the  relatively  light 
one.     Therefore,  in  the  intense  glare  of  the  sun  the  eyes  should 


THE   CONSTRUCTION    AND   CARE   OF   THE    EYE.  349 

be  well  shielded  by  the  head-dress,  whatever  it  may  be.     We 

suppose  that  never  was  one  discovered  yet  by  women  that  is  so 
delightfully  protective  as  the  old-fashioned  country  sun-bonnet, 
from  whose  cool  depths  they  safely  peered  forth  into  the  most 
blazing  light. 

Eyes  are  notably  subject  to  two  organic  defects,  called 
myopia  and  hypermetropia.  In  the  first, which  is  very  Common, 
and  generally  known  as  short-sightedness,  the  picture  from  the 
lens* of  the  eye  falls  short  of  the  retina.  In  the  second, 
which  is  long-sightedness,  the  picture  tends,  by  the  remote 
convergence  of  the  rays  forming  it,  to  lie  back  of  the  retina. 
In  neither  case  is  there  at  certain  distances,  if  visible  at  all,  a 
proper  picture  seen.  Concave  glasses  are  the  mechanical  appli- 
ances that  rectify  short-sightedness,  and  convex  glasses  those 
which  rectify  long-sightedness.  The  flattening  of  the  eye  with 
the  increase  of  age  lessens  short-sightedness,  but  it  is  obvious 
that  this  same  change  would  with  years  but  increase  the  opposite 
condition. 

Presbyopia,  or  old-sightedness,  is  a  condition  that,  as  its 
name  indicates,  comes  with  age.  The  eyes  are  long-sighted,  but 
not  longer-sighted  than  they  were  in  youth.  It  is  for  near 
objects  that  they  assume  with  age  the  condition  described  for 
lrypermetropia,  where  the  image  tends  to  be  formed  back  of  the 
retina.  Consequeuth",  for  this  condition  as  for  that,  convex 
glasses  are  worn,  because  they  have  the  effect,  in  conjunction 
with  the  lens  of  the  eye,  of  focusing  the  rays  received  from 
objects  in  the  outer  world  nearer  to  the  front  of  the  eye,  and,  if 
glasses  are  properly  selected,  exactly  on  the  retina.  This  con- 
dition of  the  eye  is  due  to  loss,  through  muscular  deterioration, 
of  former  power  of  accommodation  of  the  sight  to  objects  at 
different  distances,  and  also  to  the  flattening  of  the  lens  of  the 
eye  from  age. 

The  eye  in  its  finest  condition  has  this  capacity,  of  what  is 


350  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

known  to  oculists  as  "the  accommodation,"  the  ability  to  focus 
the  object  on  the  retina  over  a  great  range  of  distance  from  far 
to  near.  Indians,  who  roam  the  open  country,  and  who  are 
habituated  to  long,  visible  distances,  and  who  also  work  at 
objects  requiring  the  nicest  scrutiny,  such  as  baskets,  arrows, 
bead-work,  etc.,  have  the  accommodation  of  the  eye  enormously 
developed.  So,  for  a  similar  reason,  have  those  surveyors  who 
practice  geodesy  (surveying  in  the  open),  for,  with  them,  the  e3-e 
is  used  to  sight  alternately  far  and  near,  down  to  reading  the 
delicate  graduation  of  mathematical  instruments. 

The  wealing  of  glasses,  whether  in  3'outh  or  age,  should  not 
be  postponed  a  day  beyond  the  time  when  they  are  needed. 
Young  people  should  be  taken  at  once  to  an  oculist  upon  the 
slightest  suspicion  that  anything  is  amiss  with  the  eyes.  Per- 
sons who  are  sure,  from  long  experience,  of  having  no  defect  of 
the  eye,  should,  as  they  approach  middle-age,  go  at  once  to  an 
oculist  to  be  fitted  with  glasses,  at  the  slightest  intimation  of  a 
failure  of  sight.  The  infallible  intimation  of  waning  power  in 
the  sight  is  the  perception  of  a  difference  in  the  ease  with  which 
one  reads  by  gas-  or  lamp-  light,  as  compared  with  the  light  of 
day.  Abstention  from  going  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  rest 
will  not  be  given  to  the  aging  and  enfeebled  e}Te.  The  person 
who  would  take  a  cane  to  support  his  tottering  steps  declines  to 
afford  relief  to  the  weakness  of  the  most  delicate  organ  of  the 
body.  Do  not  imagine  by  ignoring  glasses  to  deceive  the  world 
into  thinking  that  you  do  not  need  them.  Many  signs  will 
betray  the  fact,  even  if  you  have  not  the  areas  senilis,  or  white 
rim  of  age  around  the  iris.  The  world  sees  through  this  sort  of 
pretense  without  the  aid  of  spectacles. 

Having  adopted  glasses  at  a  suitable  time,  do  not  fail  to  in- 
crease them  in  strength  as  the  sight  becomes  more  and  more  pres- 
byopic. Xot  long  ago  we  used  to  meet  a  nice  old  man  in  the 
cars,  with  whom  we  had  an  occasional  chat,  whose  glasses,  month 


THE   CONSTRUCTION    AND   CARE   OF   THE    EYE.  351 

by  month,  were  placed  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  tip  of  his  nose, 
until  one  morning,  when  we  found  him  with  them  on  flic  very 
tip,  barely  able  to  maintain  their  place,  the  impulse  to  which  we 
3delded  was  irresistible  when  we  said  to  him,  "  You  will  either 
have  to  get  new  glasses  or  a  longer  nose."  Fortunately,  his 
sense  of  humor  enabled  him  to  take  a  kindly  joke,  and  so  his 
eyesight  and  appearance  have  been  simultaneous^  benefited 
from  a  casual  remark  that  brought  about  instant  realization  of  a 
habit  insensibly  acquired  and  prejudicial  to  both. 

Eye-washes  are  applications  for  use,  as  the  case  may  be,  on 
the  ejes  or  on  the  ej'elids,  or  on  both.  For  congestion  and  irri- 
tation of  both  eyes  and  eyelids,  the  simplest  wash  is  hot  water 
applied  frequently  to  the  parts.  Applying  it,  night  and  morn- 
ing, it  will  often  give  the  greatest  relief  and  arrest  many  diseases 
of  the  e}res  and  ej'elids  : — 

TEA   ETE-WASH. 

Hot  water  poured  on  tea-leaves,  and  the  mixture  allowed  to  steep  and  cool, 
makes  a  soothing  eye-wash. 

WITCH-HAZEL    EYE-WASH. 

Distilled  witch-hazel, 1  ounce. 

Pure  water, 1      " 

To  he  used  especially  for  eyes  irritable  from  cold.  Bathe  the  eyes 
frequently  with  the  wash. 

BRANDT   EYE-WASH. 

Brandy, 1  drachm. 

Water, 1  ounce. 

To  be  used  especially  for  eyes  irritable  from  cold.     Apply  frequently. 

ALUM   EYE-WASH. 

Alum, 1  grain. 

Pure  water,        tf 1  ounce. 

Drop  gently,  night  and  morning,  into  the  eye  with  the  tip  of  a  feather,  a 
pipette,  or  some  such  thing,  and  this  will  sensibly  relieve  inflammation. 

ZINC   ETE-WASH. 

Sulphate  of  zinc,        .  1  grain. 

Rose-water, 1  ounce. 

Drop  the  solution  gently  into  the  eyes,  night  and  morning.     For  inflamed 


859  HEREDITY.    HKAM'll.    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

BOKAX   EYE-WASH. 

Borax, 1  crrain. 

Camphor-water, 1  ounce. 

Pour  the  Bolution  In  the  eyea  BeveraJ  times  a  day.    For  Inflamed  eyes. 

The  following  is  a  salve  for  inflamed  eyelids: — 

Oleate  <>f  mercury  Balve 1  drachm. 

Rub  into  the  eyelids  after  bathing  them  gently,  night  and  morning,  with 

hot  water. 

The  following  is  a  useful  recipe  for  a  salve  for  inflamed  or 

granulated  eyelids  : — 

Yellow  oxide  of  mercury, 1  grain. 

Rose-salve  or  unsalted  butter, jounce. 

Apply  to  the  eyelids  night  and  morning. 

The  following    recipe    for  what  is  called   alum-curd  is  for 

granulated  eyelids  : — 

Take  a  piece  of  alum  about  the  size  of  a  walnut,  and  rub  it  into  the 
white  of  an  eg?  until  a  curd  is  formed.  Place  the  curd  in  a  couple  of  thick- 
nesses of  fine  gauze  or  bobbinet,  and  apply  it  thus  to  the  eye.  If  bobbinet  is 
used,  first  wash  the  stiffening  out  of  it. 

These  recipes  are  given  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may 
need  to  know  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  some  efficacious  treat- 
ment for  an  inflammation  of  the  eye  or  eyelids,  and  upon  the 
presumption  that  the  ailment  is  not  serious,  or,  if  it  be,  that  no 
good  medical  man  is  within  reach.  Whenever,  on  the  contrary, 
there  is  opportunity,  and,  in  the  case  of  judging  that  the  ailment 
is  slight,  there  lie  any  doubt  remaining  in  the  mind  as  to  the 
fact,  recourse  should  be  had  at  the  earliest  possible  time  to  the 
advice  of  a  regular  medical  practitioner.  A  person  might  think 
that  he  has  merely  a  blood-shot  eye,  when  in  reality  he  has  an 
affection  called  pterygium,  requiring  astringent  treatment,  and 
perhaps  other  treatment  that  no  one  but  an  oculist  can  properly 
prescribe, — perhaps  even  an  operation  on  the  eye. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE   CONSTRUCTION    AND   CARE   OF   THE   EAR. 

THE  human  ear  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  of  the  best  possible 
form,  nor  as  always  in  the  best  position  for  the  collection 
of  sounds.  One  will  observe  in  the  lower  animals,  in  many  of 
which  the  hearing  is  far  more  acute  than  in  man,  that  the  ear  is 
larger,  of  simpler  form,  and  mobile.  Among  some  of  these  the 
concavity  of  the  ear  can  be  directed  toward  the  place  whence  the 
sound  seems  to  proceed.  Doubtless  the  human  ear  was  originally 
of  a  very  different  shape  from  its  present  one,  and  the  convolutions 
which  it  now  possesses  represent  a  general  collapse  of  the  organ, 
the  absence  of  its  motile  power  having  coincidently  come  about 
in  the  course  of  ages,  as  being  no  longer  needful  in  man's  present 
higher  stage  of  existence.  Darwin  even  thought  that  the  point 
On  the  inner  side  of  the  selvedge-edge  of  the  ear,  about  a  third 
of  the  way  from  the  top,  wThich  is  a  very  marked  feature  of  the 
organ  in  some  few  individuals,  is  to  be  recognized  as  the  rudiment 
of  a  former  peak  of  the  ear.  He  also  enlarges  upon  the  fact, 
known  to  some  persons,  that  in  certain  individuals  the  ear  can 
be  moved  at  will.  Darwin's  idea  of  the  rudiment  of  which  we 
speak  being  the  representative  of  a  former  tip  of  the  ear,  now 
folded  in,  brings  with  it  a  vivid  reminiscence  of  Hawthorne's 
Donatello,  in  the  "  Marble  Faun," — that  strange  creature  who 
touched  so  nearly  on  primeval  nature. 

If  any  one  should  think  it  superfluous  to  mention  that  the 
ear  is  not,  as  compared  with  that  of  some  of  the  lower  animals, 
well  adapted  to  collecting  sounds,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  say  to 
such  a  one,  that  the  fact  is  not  always  apparent.  Even  so 
learned  a  man  as  Reis,  a  German  professor,  who,  in  1860, 
undoubtedly  invented   the   telephone,   evidently  had   so   much 

23  (353) 


354  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

confidence  in  the  sbape  of  the  human  ear  as  the  attest  vehicle  for 
at  least  the  sound  of  speech,  that  be  constructed  his  first  tele- 
phone with  a  receiver  (called  in  telephony  " the  transmitter") 
shaped  like  the  human  ear.  The  car  receives  any  sounds  fairly 
well,  although  how  much  better  it  would  receive  them  if  it  pre- 
sented a,  larger  concave  surface,  capable  of  moving,  is  proved 
by  the  common  practice  of  one  hard  of  hearing,  in  adjusting 
the  curved  hand  back  of  the  ear  with  reference  both  to  the 
intensity  and  direction  of  the  sound  sought  to  be  heard. 

The  human  ear  in  t lie  present  human  life  is  not, be  it  under- 
stood, ill-adapted  to  the  requirement  of  it.  It  is  the  require- 
ment of  it  which  has  largely  contributed  to  stamp  it  as  what  it 
is.  We  are  but  comparing  it  with  ears  of  liner  organization  for 
hearino1.  Its  existing  convolutions  are  serviceable  in  directing 
sounds  through  the  passage  upon  the  drum  of  the  ear,  as  has 
been  tested  by  filling  up  the  convolutions  with  some  plastic 
material,  like  wax,  whereupon  the  diminution  in  hearing  became 
appreciable.  But  surely,  as  we  have  proved  by  citing  a  single 
experiment,  which  any  one  can  try  for  himself,  we  should  hear 
better  if  the  ear  were  larger  and  differently  shaped  and  capable 
of  movement.  This  fact,  however,  does  not  involve  the  con- 
clusion that  we  should  be  equal  even  then  in  acuteness  of 
heniing  to  some  of  the  lower  animals,  the  interior  apparatus  of 
whose  ears  is  evidently  more  highly  organized  than  ours.  As 
mankind  have  advanced  in  intellectual  power,  and  have  developed 
the  inventive  faculty,  they  have  become  less  and  less  dependent 
upon  the  strength  and  the  acuteness  of  their  merely  physical 
attributes.  They  must  have  been  untold  centuries  without  an 
acute  sense  of  heaving,  even  as  it  is  found  where  most  highly 
developed  in  human  beings,  among  savages.  Yet  it  is  only  very 
recently  that,  in  the  German  army,  dogs  have  been  trained  in 
connection  with  outpost  duty,  a  service  in  which  their  special 
keenness    of    hearing   admirably    supplements    the    intelligence 


THE   CONSTITUTION    AND   CARE   OF   THE    EAR.  355 

of  videttes.  It  is  truly  remarkable  that  this  use  of  the  dog 
had  never  previously  been  made  a  part  of  regular  military 
administration. 

The  outer  ear  collects  waves  of  sound  and  transmits  them 
through  a  short  channel  terminated  by  a  tense  membrane  having 
the  same  function  as  that  of  the  parchment  head  of  a  drum. 
This  membrane  is,  for  that  reason,  called  the  drum-membrane  of 
the  ear.  The  drum  of  the  ear  is  constituted  by  that  membrane 
and  the  chamber  which  it  closes.  Delicately  attached  to  the 
back  of  this  membrane  is  the  end  of  a  small  bone,  called  the 
hammer.  The  hammer,  at  its  other  end,  is  jointed  with  another 
bone,  called  the  anvil.  The  anvil,  in  turn,  is  jointed  with  a  third 
small  bone,  called  the  stirrup.  These  three  articulated  bones 
together  form  what  is  known  as  a  compound  lever. 

When  a  sound  from  the  outer  world  strikes  upon  the  drum- 
membrane  of  the  ear,  it  makes  that  membrane  vibrate  with  the 
intensity  and  quality  of  the  impulse  which  characterize  the 
sound.  This  vibration  is  taken  up  by  the  end  of  the  lever  form- 
ing the  hammer,  conveyed  thence  to  the  anvil,  and  thence  to  the 
stirrup. 

At  the  stirrup  a  new  series  of  physical  characters  present 
themselves,  completed  by  the  phenomenon  of  hearing.  The 
bottom  of  the  stirrup  is  in  contact  with  an  oval  opening  into  the 
solid  temporal  bone,  which  opening,  likened  to  a  window,  is  cov- 
ered by  a  membrane.  Beyond  this  oval,  membrane-covered 
window,  and  carved  out,  as  it  were,  in  the  dense  bone,  is  what  is 
called  the  labyrinth,- — a  chamber  consisting  of  beautifully  curved 
passages,  in  which  is  a  membranous  sac  containing  and  sur- 
rounded by  fluid.  The  finer  details  of  the  structure  of  the  laby- 
rinth are  too  numerous  and  complicated  to  be  here  described, 
relating,  as  they  do,  to  the  minutest  anatomical  research  assisted 
by  the  microscope.  Suffice  it  to  say  that,  immeshed  in  this  mem- 
branous sac,  filling  the  bony  passages  of  the  labyrinth,  spread 


3")G  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

out  the  hair-like  terminal  filaments  of  the  auditory  nerve,  by 
means  of  which  the  perception  of  sound  becomes  one  of  the 
functions  of  the  brain. 

Here,  at  the  labyrinth,  the  new  departure,  after  the  vibra- 
tion from  the  drum-membrane  lias  reached  the  oval,  membrane- 
covered  window  of  the  labyrinth,  begins  and  ends  with  the 
Bensation  of  hearing.  The  bottom  of  the  stirrup  conveys  the 
vibration  to  the  oval,  membrane-covered  window;  that  mem- 
brane transmits  the  impulse,  in  quantity  and  quality,  to  the  fluid 
inside  of  the  membranous  sac  in  the  labyrinth  ;  it,  in  turn,  trans- 
mits the  impulse  to  the  long,  hair-like  processes  that  lie  spread 
out  within  the  sac  ;  and,  lastly,  the}'  transmit  it  to  the  auditory 
nerve,  whence,  as  a  finality,  it  reaches  the  brain.  Here,  however, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  eye  and  the  faculty  of  seeing,  we  reach  a 
point  incapable  of  solution  by  the  human  intellect.  How  is  it 
that  a  vibration — a  transient  physical  fact,  communicated  to  the 
auditory  nerve — ceases  to  have  merely  physical  attributes,  and 
is  translated  from  a  sensation  into  an  emotion?  It  is  impossible 
that  any  one  should  ever  be  able  to  find  out  the  reason  for  this. 
If  an}r  one  think  so,  he  is  ignorant,  or  presumptuous  beyond  the 
bounds  of  expression  to  characterize  his  folly. 

It  must  seem  to  the  general  reader  as  if  all  that  is  necessary 
to  a  description  of  the  ear  had  been  said,  and  yet,  were  there 
not  something  else  added,  the  structure  would  have  been  de- 
scribed as  ver}r  imperfect.  It  is  requisite  to  the  excellence 
of  the  apparatus  of  the  ear  that  there  should  be  a  constant 
supply  of  air  in  the  drum-chamber.  The  special  apparatus  which 
supplies  this  need  is  called  the  Eustachian  tube, — a  tube  from 
1^  to  2  inches  long,  situated  at  the  side  and  rear  of  the  upper 
part  of  the  throat,  opening  from  the  portion  of  the  throat  that 
is  called  the  pharynx.  During  swallowing  this  passage  closes. 
Air  is,  however,  at  the  normal  tension,  supplied  through  this 
passage  to  the  drum-chamber,  thus  equalizing  the  atmospheric 


THE   CONSTITUTION   AND   CARE   OF   TIIK    EAR.  357 

pressure  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  drum-membrane.  II'  it 
were  not  for  this,  the  atmospheric  pressure  on  the  outside  would 
force  the  drum-membrane  constantly  inward ;  a  certain  muscle 
connected  with  it  would  not  be  able  to  act  efficiently  upon  it, 
and,  besides,  sound  could  not  be  conveyed  so  readily  as  now 
across  the  drum-chamber. 

When  the  opening  of  the  Eustachian  tube  into  the  pharynx 
is  partially  closed  by  inflammation  of  the  throat,  as  from  cold, 
or  from  some  other  cause,  the  hearing  is  much  impaired.  We 
can,  upon  reflection,  realize  that  this  must  occur  when  we  know 
that,  although  the  chief  agent  in-conveying  the  vibration  of  sound 
across  from  the  drum-membrane  to  the  oval,  membranous  window 
of  the  labyrinth  is  the  compound  lever  formed  of  the  hammer, 
anvil,  and  stirrup,  yet  that  air  in  the  drum-chamber  must  also  be 
a  medium  for  the  conveyance  of  the  vibration.  For  this  reason 
persons  hard  of  hearing  hear  so  much  better  when  they  use  one 
of  the  modern  flexible  fans  constructed  for  deafness,  which  is 
bowed  at  pleasure  with  a  string,  and  the  upper  edge  of  it  placed 
between  the  teeth.  We  hear  by  the  affection  mediately  of  dif- 
ferent surrounding  parts  of  the  auditory  apparatus.  Primarily, 
we  hear  by  means  of  the  action  of  the  base  of  the  stirrup  on  the 
oval  window,  and  by  means  of  vibration  of  the  air  in  the  drum- 
chamber  acting  on  the  oval  window  ;  but  if  any  one  has  ever 
been  in  bathing,  as  we  have,  during  a  severe  thunder-storm,  he 
knows  from  the  intensity  of  the  sound,  if  he  has  happened  to 
plunge  his  head  under  water  during  a  violent  peal  of  thunder, 
that  vibrations  are  communicated  directly  to  the  ear  from  eveiy 
portion  of  the  bony  structure  of  the  cranium,  as  well  as  through 
the  passage  of  the  outer  ear,  and,  perhaps,  despite  the  closed 
lips  and  teeth,  through  the  Eustachian  tube.  At  any  rate,  the 
din  is  frightful,  and  of  singular  complexity  of  sound  effect. 

In  cerebral  disease,  impressions  of  hearing  may  be  due  to 
physical   causes   not   proceeding   from  the   outer   world.     The 


358  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

effects  are  real,  not  imaginary  ;  but  interior,  not  exterior;  arising 
from  the  disturbance  of  disease.  They  are  sometimes,  in  the 
case  of  the  insane,  not  only,  as  indicated,  caused  by  disease, 
hut  come  in  turn  to  he  a  cause  of  its  aggravation,  from  the  fact 
of  their  being  considered  by  the  sufferers  as  objective  sounds,  or 
sounds  originating  in  the  outer  world,  and,  besides  that,  are  mis- 
construed as  to  significance,  and  regarded  as  persecuting  voices. 
If  the  reader  should  ever  come  across  a  French  work  by  A. 
Brierre  de  Boismont,  on  hallucinations,  he  will  find  the  topic  of 
subjective  noises,  believed  to  be  objective  ones,  elaborately  set 
forth.  When  it  is  known  that  the  acutely  insane  are  liable  to 
tumors  of  the  ear,  it  ceases  to  be  surprising  that  the}7  should  be 
prone  to  misinterpretation  of  sounds.  But,  putting  tumors  en- 
tirely out  of  question,  when  we  reflect  that  insanity  is  a  disease 
of  the  matter  of  the  brain,  and  that  the  brain  13  connected  with 
the  ear  by  means  of  the  auditory  nerve,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
cerebral  disease  may  involve  that  nerve,  and  all  reason  for 
wonderment  at  the  delusions  of  some  of  the  insane  from  a  per- 
verted sense  of  hearing,  physically  coupled  as  the  optic  nerve 
is  with  the  organization  of  the  brain  proper,  should  cease. 

There  are  various  disorders  to  which  the  ear  is  liable.  The 
most  common  of  these  is  simple  earache,  which  is  caused  by 
inflammation  of  a  part  or  the  whole  of  the  meatus  auditorius,  or 
passage  into  the  ear  from  the  side  of  the  head.  The  reader  will 
remember  that  there  is  another  passage  into  the  ear  of  which  we 
spoke — the  Eustachian  tube.  For  the  affection  of  earache 
nothing  is  more  effective  than  the  applications  made  with  the 
lotions  represented  by  the  two  following  recipes: — 

Tincture  of  opium  (laudanum) ,      ....    2  drachms. 

Olive-oil 2        " 

Heat  the  mixture,  and  insert  in  the  ear  a  small  piece  of  raw  cotton  moist- 
ened with  it. 

Sulphate  of  atropine, 4  grains. 

Pure  water, jounce, 

With  a  camel's  hair  pencil  brush  inside  of  car  frequently  with  mixture. 


THE   CONSTITUTION    AND   CAKE   OF   THE   EAR.  359 

In  a  similar  manner  a  5-  to  a  10-per-cent.  solution  of  cocaine 
can  be  administered  to  the  ear,  affording  quick  relief  from  pain. 
Syringing  it  with  simple  hot  water  is  also  sometimes  attended 
with  speedy  relief  from  pain. 

Affections  more  serious  than  earache  should  cause  instant 
resort  to  a  skillful  aurist,  as  any  one  can  for  himself  judge 
advisable,  when  it  is  mentioned  that  there  may  be  ulceration  and 
abscess  of  the  ear,  thickening  and  perforation  of  its  drum-mem- 
brane, producing  partial  or  entire  deafness,  and  many  more 
ailments  of  the  organ,  some  of  which  are  very  obscure,  and  un- 
discoverable  except  by  the  skillful  aurist.  The  Eustachian  tube 
ma}^  be  partially  occluded  (closed)  from  the  presence  of  inflam- 
mation in  the  throat,  and,  as  previously  mentioned,  this  condition 
affects  the  hearing. 

The  ear,  we  wish  strongly  to  impress  upon  the  reader,  is 
liable  to  affections  that  need  the  interposition  of  the  aurist. 
This  is  sometimes  the  case  even  when  the  difficulty  is  not  so 
serious  as  to  suggest  impairment  of  the  organ,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  formation  of  a  hard  mass  of  wax  at  the  bottom  of  the  outer 
passage  of  the  ear.  The  wax  of  the  ear  is  secreted  for  the 
benefit  of  the  organ,  but,  especially  in  old  age,  it  sometimes 
forms  in  a  hard  mass  wdiich  the  sufferer  might  find  it  difficult,  or 
dangerous  to  the  drum-membrane,  to  attempt  to  dislodge.  It  is 
best,  therefore,  in  all  cases  bej'ond  a  simple  earache,  to  go 
without  dela}'  to  an  experienced  practitioner  in  diseases  of  the 
ear.  Take  time  also  by  the  forelock  by  obtaining  proper 
medical  advice  in  the  case  of  children  who,  from  being  of  a 
scrofulous  constitutional  taint,  have  running  from  the  ears. 
This  is  sometimes  produced  by  enlargement  of  the  tonsils 
affecting  the  Eustachian  tube,  and  should  be  attended  to. 

Delicate  membranes  such  as  those  possessed  by  the  ear 
cannot  long  withstand  the  invasion  of  pus,  or  matter,  as  it  is 
popularly   called,   that   flows   from    ulcerations   and   abscesses. 


3G0  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

Nothing  but  the  e}e  approaches  the  ear  in  delicacy  of  organiza- 
tion, and  it  will  not  bear  tampering  with  or  neglect.  Therefore, 
our  first  and  last  advice  is  to  go  to  an  aurist  when  you  suspect 
that  you  have  any  serious  affection  of  the  ear.  With  the 
sentinel  of  pain  as  your  guardian,  with  the  sense  of  healing  as 
your  guide,  you  ought  to  be  able  to  divest  yourself  of  illusions. 
One  last  word  011I3'  as  to  an  aurist.  Be  sure  you  find  a  good 
one,  for  a  quack  would  be  worse  than  none. 

The  practice  of  wearing  pieces  of  cotton-wool  in  the  ear  is 
not  considered  good.  They  sometimes  prevent  the  egress  of 
septic  (poisonous)  fluids  that  should  be  allowed  free  escape.  In 
a  case  of  unusual  sensitiveness  of  the  ear  to  cold,  one  might 
properly  adopt  the  plan  for  an  occasion  of  unusual  exposure. 
We  are,  however,  speaking  to  the  point  of  the  constant  habit  of 
thus  protecting  the  ear.  If  it  seems  to  require  such  protection 
habitually,  that  is  proof  that  it  is  not  in  a  health}'  condition, 
and  recourse  should  be  had  to  the  advice  of  an  aurist  as  to  the 
proper  treatment  to  adopt  to  render  it  less  sensitive  to  cold. 

If  }-our  case  is  one  of  only  moderate  stopping  up  of  the  ear 
with  wax,  not  such  a  one  as  we  have  witnessed,  where  the 
hearing  was  sensibly  disturbed  and  the  un  comfortableness  great, 
from  the  presence  of  a  mass  of  hardened  wax,  or  if  3*011  are  away 
in  some  place  remote  from  civilization,  where  it  is  not  possible 
to  have  access  to  a  good  aurist,  you  would  be  warranted  in  care- 
fully syringing  the  ear  with  soap-suds  and  hot  water,  which 
simple  treatment  sometimes  has  the  effect  of  softening  and 
removing  the  wax.  Under  these  circumstances,  obeying  the 
law  of  necessity,  one  is  of  course  warranted  in  treating  himself 
for  an}- affection.  We  therefore  add  to  the  previous  directions 
others  which  may  be  found  useful  under  similar  circumstances. 
You  may,  after  syringing  the  ear  with  soap-suds  and  hot  water 
every  day  or  two,  twice  daily  have  some  gl}'cerin  dropped  into 
the  ear,  or  jtou  may  dip  a  piece  of  raw  cotton  into  the  glycerin 


THE   CONSTRUCTION   AND   CARE   OF   THE   EAR.  301 

and  insert  it  in  the  ear.     The  following  recipe  is  useful  for  the 
same  purpose : — 

Borax,       .        .        * 20  grains. 

Olive-oil, 1  ounce. 

Heat  the  mixture,  and  drop  some  of  it  into  the  ear  once  or  twice  a  day. 

The  two  following  recipes  are  merely  for  external  treatment, 
to  remove  inflammation  of  the  auricle,  as  it  is  called, — the 
external  ear, — and  to  heal  cracks  in  it : — 

1.  Carbonate  of  lead, y2  drachm. 

Oil  of  eucalyptus, 3  drops. 

Ointment  of  benzoated  oxide  of  zinc,     .         .         .    jounce. 

Rub  well  into  the  part  night  and  morning. 

2.  Oil  of  cade  (tar), y2  drachm. 

Carbonate  of  zinc, Vi       u 

Lard  washed  free  of  salt, jounce. 

Apply  to  the  surface  of  the  ear. 

As  the  odor  of  tar  is  offensive  to  some  persons,  the  following 

recipe  is  added  for  their  especial  benefit : — 

Beta-naphthol, 5  grains. 

Oil  of  chamomile, 5  drops. 

Acetate  of  lead, 10  grains. 

Oxide  of  benzoated  oxide  of  zinc,   ...        •  %  ounce. 
Apply  to  the  surface  of  the  ear  twice  a  day. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE    NOSE,   IN    ITS  PHYSICAL,    MORAL,    AND   INTELLECTUAL   ASPECTS. 

IF  any  one  suppose  that  the  nose  has  no  legitimate  place  here, 
it  may  be  sufficient  to  remind  him  that  one  peculiarity  of 
the  nose  is  its  disposition  to  poke  itself  in  where  it  has  no 
business.  But  we  maintain  stoutly  that  it  has  a  right  to  notice 
here,  not  only  on  account  of  its  physical  significance  as  an 
attribute  of  beauty  or  of  ugliness,  but  on  account  also  of  its 
mental  and  moral  significance. 

A  perfect  nose  is  exceedingly  rare.  Apropos  of  this 
demonstrable  fact,  we  proceed  to  illustrate  it  by  an  anecdote  of 
an  occurrence  affording  much  amusement  at  the  time  to  those 
who  knew  personally  or  by  hearsay  of  the  dry  humor  and  quaint 
ways  of  putting  things  occasionally  indulged  in  by  the  late  Dr. 
Franklin  Bache,  formerly  professor  of  chemistry  in  Jefferson 
College,  and  one  of  the  two  original  writers  of  the  "  United 
States  Dispensatory."  Meeting  one  day  an  artist  of  his  ac- 
quaintance, in  whom  he  took  an  interest,  he  feelingby  discoursed 
to  him  on  his  own  experience  as  to  how  exceedingly  rare  is  a 
handsome  nose,  concluding  by  informing  him  that  he  happened 
to  have  at  that  moment  a  servant-girl  who  was  thus  rarely  en- 
dowed, and  inviting  him  in  the  interest  of  his  studies  to  call  and 
obtain  a  view  of  this  very  rare  specimen  of  the  organ.  The 
Doctor  had  forgotten  all  about  the  incident,  for  a  long  time  had 
elapsed  without  the  appearance  of  the  artist,  when,  one  night 
after  eleven  o'clock,  when  the  whole  family  had  retired  and  the 
street  was  as  silent  as  the  grave,  a  tremendous  peal  sounded 
on  the  front-door  bell,  and  the  Doctor,  putting  his  head  out  of 
the  window,  in  anticipation  of  a  summons  to  attend  an  urgent 
case,  was  greeted  by  a  voice  from  the  door-steps,  saying.  "  Doctor, 

(363) 


3G4  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

I  have  come  to  take  a  look  at  3*our  servant-girl's  nose."  Doubt- 
less there  was  a  mournful  silence  for  a  moment,  for  the  Doctor 
was  always  deliberate,  but  always  courteous,  even  in  his  night- 
clothes.  Then  his  voice  replied  through  the  stilly  night,  "I 
much  regret  that  you  will  have  to  call  at  some  more  opportune 
time,  for  my  servant-girl's  nose  is  in  bed."  Then  there  was  a 
soft  closing  of  the  window,  doubtless  a  mild  anathema,  and 
silence,  broken  only  by  the  footfalls  of  the  retreating  artist,  who 
never  re-appeared. 

The  nose  is  associated  in  some  mysterious  way  with  char- 
acter, apart  from  intellectuality.  So  close  an  observer  as 
Dickens  makes,  in  "  Little  Dorrit,"  the  execrable  Blandois,  alias 
Rigaud,  exhibit  a  peculiarly  significant  facial  trait,  of  the  nose 
coming  down  as  the  lip  goes  up,  indicative  of  a  secretive, 
treacherous,  and  sinister  nature.  It  is  always  a  bad  sign  of 
the  nature  when  the  smile  is  the  worst  expression  of  the  face. 
Certain  cants  of  the  nose  to  the  side,  if  they  are  not  congenital 
malformations,  or  derived  from  accidents  in  parturition  or  in 
after-life,  are  as  clearly  indicative  of  obliquity  of  moral  vision 
as  is  the  nasal  organ  itself  evidently  set  crooked  on  the  face. 

Rare,  indeed,  is  it,  if  the  exceptions  are  signal,  as  in  the 
cases  of  Socrates,  that  intellect  is  coupled  with  a  turned-up 
nose  #nd  spreading  nostrils.  Even  the  pretty  nez  retrousse 
(snub)  of  the  French  never  stands  for  anything  but  a  certain 
pertness  and  espieglerie  of  disposition,  very  remote  from  the 
order  of  mental  endowment  of  womankind  graced  with  vivacious 
wit,  free  from  malice  and  the  kittenish  calibre  of  their  less 
favored  sisters. 

Rare,  indeed,  is  it  to  find  a  pugilist  who  has  an}"  other  type 
of  nose  than  one  of  a  class  as  well  denned  with  reference  to  its 
associations  as  is  the  bull-dog's  with  reference  to  its  breed. 
Xoses  of  a  very  different  sort  indicate  fighters  of  a  very  different 
from  the  pugilistic  stamp.     Just  as  it  was  remarked,  in  connec- 


NOSE,   ITS   PHYSICAL,    MORAL,    AND    INTELLECTUAL    ASPECTS.       365 

tion  with  the  case  of  Socrates,  that  it  is  rare  to  find  bigb  in- 
tellectual qualities  conjoined  with  a  broad,  upturned  nose,  so 
equally  it  holds  true  of  the  conjunction  of  high  moral  qualities 
with  such  a  feature.  Socrates  was,  therefore,  an  exception  to 
both  rules,  that  the  large,  well-developed  nose  is  indicative  of 
intellect  and  i-efinement.  Intellectual  men  are  generally  char- 
acterized by  very  large  noses,  and  especially  is  this  manifest  in 
the  case  of  great  statesmen,  generals,  and  conquerors.  Of  course 
we  must  make  allowance  for  ethnic  differences,  the  differences  by 
which  races  are  characterized,  and  not  demand  as  large  a  nose 
of  Attila,  the  Hun,  as  of  some  conqueror  of  another  race. 

But  wholly  apart  from  the  quality  of  mind  that  makes 
conquerors,  great  generals,  or  statesmen,  it  will  be  found  that 
men  of  marked  distinction  of  mind  in  all  walks  of  life  are 
characterized  by  larger  and  more  distinctively  accentuated 
noses  than  are  possessed  by  men  of  average  ability,  and  of 
course  the  same  thing  holds  good  of  women.  Doubtless 
Michel  Angelo's  nose  was  a  very  good  specimen  of  the  artist 
t}7pe  of  nose,  when  it  was  in  early  life  broken  by  the  mallet  of 
a  fellow-student  of  sculpture. 

The  characteristics  of  distinguished  generals  as  to  the  form 
and  size  of  the  nose  is  pretty  generally  recognized,  even  before 
the  powers  of  observation  have  had  much  scope  for  exercise,  or 
much  information  has  been  derived  from  reading,  as  we  can 
judge  from  an  anecdote  of  General  Meade,  told  of  him  by  some 
of  his  classmates  at  the  Militaiy  Academ}r  at  West  Point.  It 
seems  that  the  cadets  of  his  class  were  fond  of  joking  him  about 
his  large  nose,  and  that  he,  who  had  a  great  fund  of  quiet  humor, 
used  to  repty  to  their  fire  of  witticisms  by  tapping  his  nose  on 
one  side  and  saying,  "Great  soldier,  great  soldier!"  Much 
evidence  has  reached  us  through  life,  going  to  show  that  there 
is  a  very  general  appreciation  of  the  fact  of  this  trait  of  a  large 
nose   generally   meaning    intellectual    superiority,   and    certain 


3GG  BEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

■ 

forms  of  it  a  military  bent  of  superiority,  and  also  that  there 
i>  a  very  general  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  the  opposite 
extreme,  the  small.  Biiuh  variety  of  nose,  is  indicative  of  mental 
inferiority,  often  conjoined  with  comic  disposition  and  alimen- 
tary and  bibulous  propensities.  But  all  the  existing  intermediate 
varieties  of  nose,  as  indicative  of  mind  and  temperament,  are 
very  far,  indeed,  from  being  recognized  in  their  full  significance, 
and  most  persons  who  would  claim  profound  insight  into  a 
person  by  looking  into  the  e}"e  would  never  think  for  a  moment 
of  consulting  the  nose  as  any  index  to  mind  and  character,  and 
\  et  the  nose  is  there  much  more  helplessly  than  the  eye  to  testify- 
as  to  the  worth  or  worthlessness  of  its  possessor. 

The  nose  is  sometimes  the  seat  of  the  most  violent  inflam- 
mations. Inebriety  sometimes  leaves  its  mark  there  in  the  man- 
ner in  which  Bardolph  was  afflicted.  The  disease  of  rosacea,  in 
the  form  of  rhinophyma,  which  was  what  Bardolph  had,  has 
other  sources  besides  those  of  excessive  drinking,  that  are  not 
popularly  known,  and  hence  one  innocently  a  sufferer  is  sincerely 
to  be  pitied  as  having  to  bear  not  only  the  disease,  but  the  most 
unjust  conclusions  regarding  its  cause. 

Lupus,  popularly  termed  cancer,  but  not  regarded  by  phy- 
sicians as  true  cancer,  sometimes  attacks  and  rapidly  destroys 
the  nose,  being,  in  respect  of  its  capacit}^  to  destroy  the  tissues, 
like  cancer,  thus  leading  naturally  to  the  popular  designation  of 
it.  Sometimes  from  a  small  centre  of  irritation,  as,  for  instance, 
a  broken  and  unkindly-healed  mole,  which  has  been  subjected  to 
fierce  alternations  of  heat  and  cold  (the  causes  are  numerous 
that  are  capable  of  setting  up  inflammation  in  such  a  place), 
there  arises  a  morbid  affection  known  as  epithelioma.  These 
cases  seem  extremely  trifling  at  first,  hardly  worthy  of  notice, 
hut.  like  the  spark  that  is  capable  of  causing  the  great  con  flagra- 
tion,  they  do  not  bear  letting  alone.  The  electric  needle  at 
once  extirpates   such    growths  in  their   incipient   stages.     We 


NOSE,    ITS   PHYSICAL,    MORAL,    AND   INTELLECTUAL    ASPECTS.       307 

have  known  of  the  case  of  such  an  excrescence  that  had  been 
successively  treated  by  perforation  with  red-hot  needles,  when  if 
grew  again,  and  then  by  excision  with  curved  scissors,  which 
cut  it  out  nearly  to  the  bone,  when  it  grew  again  ;  but  we  have 
never  known  of  a  case  in  which  the  electric  needle  has  been 
used  for  extirpating  one  when  it  has  returned. 

There  is  nothing  to  be  said  here  as  to  the  toilet  of  the 
nose,  save  that  it  should  be  performed  in  private  with  the  hand- 
kerchief, as  that  of  the  other  exterior  organs  of  the  body  may 
be  with  the  wash-rag.  We  are  sorry  to  say  that  in  our  public 
conveyances  sanitary  rules  are  not  sufficiently  adopted  and  en- 
forced by  the  companies.  Picking  the  nose  is  outrageously  fre- 
quent. Only  smoking  is  prohibited,  and  the  rule  against  it  en- 
forced. But  spitting  is  far  worse,  because  some  spit  holds  the 
germs  of  the  bacillus  of  consumption,  which  may,  in  the  form 
of  dust,  eventually  find  its  way  into  a  favorable  soil  in  lungs 
predisposed  to  consumption,  and  this  practice  is  not  forbidden 
by  the  companies,  although  it  is  most  prevalent  in  the  cars 
among  some  classes  of  men,  and  although  it  is  well  known  that 
consumption  is  contagious.  The  companies  should  also  prohibit 
the  unsanitary  practices  of  cleaning  the  nails  and  picking  the 
teeth  in  public  convej-ances,  where  tlmy  are  to  be  constantl}-  seen. 
These  practices  are  doubly  coarse,  for  refinement  is  nothing  if 
not  considerate  of  others,  and  nothing  if  not  self-respectful 
enough  to  keep  for  privacy  the  offices  of  cleansing  the  person.* 

*  Singular  to  relate,  it  so  happens  that  since  these  lines  were  written,  last 
winter,  and  hefore  they  can  be  printed,  notices  have  been  everywhere  posted  in  the 
cars  about  Philadelphia,  forbidding  spitting  in  them.  We,  however,  let  them  stand 
in  their  entirety,  as  possibly  useful  instruction  for  the  country  at  large,  in  which  the 
habit  of  spitting  in  public  places  has  always  been  very  prevalent.  We  have  seen 
roughs,  immediately  upon  seating  themselves  in  a  car,  whip  out  plugs  of  tobacco 
and  help  themselves  to  chews  therefrom,  with  the  air  of  having  reached  a  piace 
specially  devoted  to  chewing.  But,  bad  as  this  tobacco-chewing  and  spitting  has 
been,  it  is  as  nothing  compared  with  the  filthiness  and  danger  of  expectoration  upon 
the  floor  of  the  cars  of  phlegm  hawked  from  the  deepest  recesses  of  the  throat, 
heretofore  constantly  practiced  in  cars,  in  total  disregard  of  cleanliness,  and  to  the 
nauseation  of  ladies  and  gentlemen. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

FOOD  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  HEALTH,  BEAUTY,  AND  PLEASURE. 

THE  subject  of  food,  viewed  scientifically,  is  too  deep  to  be 
entered  upon  in  a  work  of  this  kind,  as  the  reader  may 
judge  when  informed  that  great  masters  of  dietetics  have 
differed  even  as  to  the  classification  of  food,  and,  therefore,  of 
course,  as  to  many  details  regarding  it.  Dunglison's  summary 
of  the  simplest  classification  will  receive  the  most  general  accept- 
ance. He  says  that  in  nitrogenized  food  is  included  the  fibrinous, 
albuminous,  caseinous,  and  gelatinous  elements ;  and  that  in 
non-nitrogenous  food  is  included  the  amylaceous,  saccharine, 
and  oleaginous  elements.  Lastly,  then,  come  the  inorganic 
elements  of  food  He  remarks,  further,  that  the  second  category 
might  be  further  simplified,  for  amylaceous  food  is  convertible 
into  sugar  during  digestion,  and  from  either  oleaginous  matter 
may  be  formed. 

What  we  have  more  particularly  to  consider  is,  not  the 
scientific  aspect  of  food  as  related  to  the  human  body,  but  the 
ordinary  practices  as  to  eating  that  lie  before  us  in  our  daily 
walks  in  life.  Even  within  this  sphere  the  subject  is  so  vast 
that  it  can  be  at  best  but  skimmed  over  here.  Since  the  primi- 
tive apple,  through  which  man  fell  from  grace,  the  tillers  of  the 
soil  have  made  the  earth  to  }deld  of  its  goodly  fruits,  and  river, 
ocean,  and  air  have  been  laid  under  contribution  for  the  suste- 
nance of  the  body  and  the  gratification  of  the  palate  of  mankind. 

In  the  course  of  this  process,  certain  countries  have  devel- 
oped particular  dishes,  and  their  inhabitants  have  imbibed 
particular  tastes.  Hence,  home-staying  people  have  come  to 
regard  their  tastes  as  the  natural  and  true  standard,  and  often 
decline  even  to  make  trial  of  new  dishes,  whether  from  their  own 

24  (369) 


370  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    A\H    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

or  other  lands.  But  all  tastes,  including  thai  in  eating,  depend 
upon  education.  What  one  is  broughl  up  to  in  childhood  to  eat, 
he  generally  cats  with  greater  relish  than  lie  eats  anything  else. 
The  ability,  however,  to  acquire  new  tastes  lasts  through  life,  and 
one-  of  the  chief  differences  between  cultivated  and  uncultivated 
people  is.  that  the  former,  as  compared  with  the  latter,  prolong 
through  life  to  some  degree  childhood's  capacity  for  acquisition 
of  all  sorts,  including  what  relates  to  the  delectation  of  the 
palate. 

This  difference  among  mankind  is  enormous.  Nothing  more 
clearly  marks  the  provincial,  the  untraveled  man, than  the  perfect 
self-satisfaction  with  which  he  holds  that  everything  that  enters 
into  his  habits,  including  the  food  he  eats,  represents  the  sole 
proper,  preordained  ways  of  the  best-constituted  man.  Nothing 
can  swerve  him  from  the  fixed  idea  that  he  possesses  the  true 
standard  of  food.  He  likes  it,  and  therefore  it  is  the  best  pos- 
sible food,  and  no  addition  to  or  subtraction  from  it  could  be 
made  without  marring  his  bill  of  fare.  Content  with  the  wretched 
cooking  to  which  he  is  often  habituated,  he  will  marvel  at  the 
discomfiture  of  some  experienced  traveler  in  face  of  the  viands 
which  he  relishes  as  the  best  on  earth. 

Just  the  very  reverse  is  the  man  of  education,  especially  if 
he  has  been  a  traveler,  and  has  seen  many  countries  and  many 
different  ways.  He  believes,  with  Brillat  Savarin,  that  he  who 
discovers  a  new  dish  contributes  more  to  the  happiness  of  man- 
kind than  he  who  discovers  a  new  star.  He  philosophically 
perceives  that  what  has  been  to  him  previously  unknown  is 
equivalent,  so  far  as  he  is  concerned,  to  having  been  just  discov- 
ered, and  he  sets  himself  to  acquire  new  tastes  in  dishes,  and 
does  acquire  them,  if  not  with  the  facility  of  youth,  at  least 
with  an  advantage  which  not  even  youth  possesses — a  dis- 
criminative palate,  that  renders  every  new  enterprise  an  acqui- 
sition likelv  to  be  successful  in  true  directions.     That  there  are 


FOOD,   ITS   RELATION   TO   HEALTH,   BEAUTY,   AND  PLEASURE.      371 

false  directions  is  undeniable,  for  some  food  has  been  derived, 
not  from  choice,  but  from  necessity. 

In  1835  the  tomato  was  just  beginning  to  appear  in  this 
country  as  an  article  of  food,  excepting  with  the  populations 
around  New  Orleans.  Millions  of  people  here  had  never  heard 
of  it,  thousands  had  not  more  than  seen  it,  or  had  more  than 
taken  a  fugitive  taste  of  it  as  grown  for  curiosity  in  a  garden, 
and  then  known  as  a  love-apple.  Very  few  tables  in  the  United 
States  except  those  of  the  Creoles  of  New  Orleans  and  vicinity, 
or  else  people  in  the  North,  of  French  or  Spanish  extraction, 
ever  had  the  tomato  served  on  table  in  any  form.  It  took  years 
and  years  for  general  acquirement  of  taste  for  it,  not  because 
every  one  was  trying  to  like  it  and  could  not,  but  because  the 
majority  of  people  assumed  that  they  could  never  learn  to 
like  it,  and  would  not  try.  We  have  been  in  a  remote  settlement 
where  we  were  obliged  to  send  some  hundreds  of  miles  for  celery 
to  make  salad,  and  heard  it  described  b}^  the  young  lacty  of  the 
house  as  tasting  like  raw  rhubarb-tops,  and  not  for  worlds  would 
she  touch  the  salad  into  which  it  was  made,  because  of  the  pres- 
ence in  it  of  sweet-oil,  although  fat  pork  was  the  habitual  food 
of  the  region. 

This  same  indisposition  to  acquire  new  tastes  pervades  all 
the  affairs  of  life  with  such  people.  We  knew  one  such,  where 
the  person  wept  the  first  time  that  she  was  obliged  to  sleep  on  a 
hair-mattress  instead  of  the  accustomed  feather-bed,  and  }*et 
some  months  afterward  she  came  very  near  weeping  again 
because  she  had  to  sleep  on  a  feather-bed  instead  of  the 
hair-mattress,  which  in  the  meantime  she  had  been  using  upon 
compulsion. 

Many  instances  we  could  adduce  in  support  of  the  point  to 
which  we  are  speaking.  The  point  is  that,  with  very  many 
people,  variety  is  not  the  spice  of  life.  It  takes  a  certain  amount 
of  general  education,  thought,  and   experience,  and  a  certain 


372  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND  PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

consoquenl  ductility  of  mind,  to  make  variety  seem  the  spice  of 
life,  old  age  brings  to  the  majority  of  people  dislike  forvariety 
of  all  sort*.  They  do  not  wish  to  learn  more,  to  do  differently 
in  any  respect  from  what  they  happen  latterly  to  have  fallen 
into  the  why  of  doing.  They  sometimes  desire  never  to  go  be- 
yond the  limits  of  t heir  city,  town,  or  village;  then  never  to  go 
beyond  the  enclosure  of  the  dwelling ;  and,  with  a  final  degenera- 
tion, they  sometimes  bring  up,  while  still  in  the  enjoyment  of 
good  health,  by  frequenting  only  one  room,  and  being  perfectly 
satisfied  in  only  one  chair.  As  these  -.ami'  traits  are  observable 
in  lesser  degree  even  in  youth,  it  follows,  manifestly,  that  some 
persons  are  born  old. 

On  the  other  hand,  with  well-adjusted  mental  and  bodily 
mechanism,  coupled  with  education,  variety  at  all  ages  never 
ceases  to  be  the  spiee  of  life;  and,  so  far  as  food  is  concerned, 
variety  may,  in  a  certain  sense,  be  said  directly  to  represent  life. 
The  more  various  the  diet,  the  better  is  the  health  and  the  enjoy- 
ment  of  existence.  "When  we  find  nations  so  situated  as  to  be 
obliged  to  subsist  chiefly  on  one  article  of  food,  we  find  the 
system  liable  to  specific  disorders.  Onl}r  recently,  Dr.  Takaki, 
of  Japan,  has  accomplished  a  good  work  there  in  ameliorating 
the  condition  of  the  sailors  of  the  Japanese  navy,  through  his 
recommendation  to  the  government  to  substitute  bread,  wheat, 
and  beans  for  a  part  of  the  daily  ration  of  rice.  Although  rice 
is  good  food,  yet  by  itself  it  is  unequal  to  nourishing  the  system 
properly,  and,  in  consequence  of  eating  it  as  their  almost  exclu- 
sive diet,  the  Japanese  sailors  had  been  dreadfully  afflicted  with 
the  disease  known  as  beriberi. 

It  is  not  difficult  for  the  Japanese  to  adopt  new  practices, 
however  unaccustomed  they  may  be.  We  remember  once  con- 
versing with  an  educated  Japanese,  and  his  saying,  "  Yes,  we 
want  to  adopt  everything."  lie  was  too  intelligent  a  man  not 
to  have  known   that,  in  adopting  everything   indiscriminately, 


FOOD,  ITS  RELATION  TO  HEALTH,  BEAUTY,  AND  PLEASURE.   373 

they  could  not  fail  to  make  some  egregious  mistakes.  His 
thought,  fully  expressed,  would  have  been : — We  recognize 
European  civilization  as  so  superior  to  ours  that,  eager  as  we 
are  to  adopt  it,  we  have  no  time  at  present  to  hesitate  about  its 
details.  This  wonderful  aptitude  of  the  Japanese  for  escaping 
beyond  the  centres  of  thought  about  which  they  have  previously 
revolved  for  centuries  accounts  for  much  that  is  astonishing  in 
their  accomplishment  upon  the  basis  of  good  intellectual  powers, 
— for  such  a  thing,  for  instance,  as  a  Japanese  taking,  in  one  of 
our  first  schools,  the  prize  for  English  composition. 

How  different  and  far  inferior  in  this  respect,  of  wishing  to 
acquire  all  that  is  desirable  beyond  the  natal  horizon,  are  the 
ways  of  some  of  the  peoples  of  Europe  who  consider  themselves 
far  superior  to  the  Japanese  !  It  is  a  well-known  fact,  among  men 
who  have  studied  dietetics,  that  the  consumption  of  indian-meal 
among  the  laboring  classes  of  Europe  would,  on  account  of  its 
cheapness,  much  ameliorate  their  condition.  Yet,  for  fifty  years 
and  more,  progress  in  the  direction  of  inducing  them  to  adopt  it 
has  been  entirely  disproportionate  to  the  zealous  efforts  of  phi- 
lanthropists to  introduce  the  meal  in  Europe  as  an  article  of 
general  food. 

Dujardin-Beaumetz,  a  distinguished  authority  on  dietetics, 
remarks,  in  one  of  his  recent  lectures  on  the  subject : — 

We  see  still,  in  France,  multitudes  of  our  day-laborers  in  the  country  living 
on  a  daily  fare  in  which  meat  constitutes  hardly  any  constituent.  But  such 
writers  as  Kingsfordt  [a  vegetarian]  forget  that  this  kind  of  diet  is  imposed  on 
the  laboring  classes  by  the  poverty  and  misery  of  their  situation,  and  certainly, 
the  Irishman,  who  lives  mainly  on  potatoes  would  be  very  glad  to  eat  meat  if 
he  could  get  it. 

This  is  an  excellent  case  with  which  to  illustrate  tendencies 
that  have  grown,  not  out  of  habits,  but  of  deprivation  of  what  is 
known,  liked,  and  impossible  of  frequent  attainment.  The  reason 
for  the  craving  of  some  of  these  people  for  certain  aliments,  and 
their  inordinate   indulgence  in  them  when  obtained,  to  which 


:;T  I       HEREDITY,  HEALTH,  AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

aliments  they  have  not  been  accustomed  as  an  habitual  diet,  is 
to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  they  have  in  their  own  country 
lived  on  the  confines  of  such  things  as  possessed  by  their  more 
fortunate  neighbors.  The  poor  Irishman  and  Irishwoman  who 
come  to  this  countiy  as  emigrants  have  eaten  meat  and  drunk 
tea,  but  not  habitually,  because  they  could  not  afford  to  buy 
them.  They  reach  here  a  country,  entirely  unlike  that  described 
by  Dujardin-Beaumetz,  of  apparently  inexhaustible  supplies. 
They  now  eat  too  much  meat.  Three  times  a  day  they  demand 
it,  and  would  take  it  a  fourth  quite  willingly,  and  the  wife  has 
the  teapot  forever  on  the  hob.  These  same  people,  however, 
acquire  few  new  tastes  in  food,  and  eatables  that  are  new  to 
them  generally  remain  unknown  to  the  end.  Not  until  the  suc- 
ceeding generation  of  the  stock  does  it  become  americanized. 

The  traveled  foreigner  of  every  nation  is  in  this  respect 
almost  a  different  human  being.  In  every  civilized  country  to 
which  he  goes,  he  tastes  new  dishes,  seeks  to  make  himself 
acquainted  with  their  merits;  even  against  difficulties,  sets  out 
to  learn  that  they  are  insuperable,  for  him  before  he  desists. 
What  pleasure  have  we  not  seen  depicted  in  the  laces  of  such 
foreigners  in  the  face  of  a  steaming  tureen  of  terrapin  or  a  dish 
of  canvas-back  ducks!  Trifles  truly  make  up  the  sum  of  life, 
and  notably  the  sum  of  pleasure.  Such  persons  live  many 
pleasant  lives  in  the  capacity  for  the  enjoyment  of  variety  of  all 
sorts.  One  of  the  trifles  that  go  to  make  up  the  sum  of  life 
is  the  alimentary  process,  upon  which  the  highest  well-being 
and  life  itself  depend,  leading  Cicero  to  say  that  a  wise  man  has 
a  \\  ise  palate. 

Within  our  own  land  we  witness  egregiously  the  short- 
sightedness upon  which  we  have  been  descanting.  Few  are  the 
fa  rm-houses  where  the  savory  pot-herb  lends  its  flavor  to  the  meat. 
In  not  one  in  fifty  thousand  is  the  delicacy  of  the  mushroom 
known.    In  many  they  cannot  tell  the  difference  between  a  mush- 


FOOD,  ITS  RELATION  TO  HEALTH,  BEAUTY,  AND  PLEASURE.   375 

room  and  a  toad-stool, and  yet  even  little  children  Learn  to  distin- 
guish between  them,  and  gather  the  mushroom  for  the  table  in 
places  where  it  is  appreciated.  Within  twenty-five  years  we  have 
found  parts  of  the  country  where  farmers  throw  away  the  sweet- 
bread as  refuse,  not  long  before  that  the  general  practice  of  the 
country.  We  have  witnessed  three  stages,  the  throwing  away 
of  the  sweet-bread,  the  giving  of  it  away  to  customers  for  other 
things,  and  lastly  the  sale  of  it  at  quite  a  high  price.  Soup  is 
the  rarest  possible  thing  in  an  American  farm-house;  indeed,  we 
have  met  one  where  the  people  had  never  heard  of  such  a  thing 
as  soup.  Yet  in  France,  which  bears  the  palm  of  cooking  from 
all  the  world,  the  pot-au-feu  is  a  mere  incident  of  cooking,  so 
much  is  it  a  matter  of  course.  Into  it  all  the  sapid,  savory  bits 
go,  that  would  not  be  useful  for  any  other  purpose,  and,  with  or 
without  a  little  added  stock,  a  delicious  and  nutritious  soup  is 
made  with  the  addition  of  a  little  seasoning.  The  pot-au-feu 
(pot  standing  on  the  fire)  is  a  labor-saving  institution,  and  an 
economical  institution,  and  an  anti-dyspeptic  institution,  for 
he  best  begins  dinner  who  begins  with  soup.  "  Something  sub- 
stantial "  is  the  cry  with  men  who  do  not  understand  the  art 
of  eating,  ignorant  that  the  best  way  to  prepare  the  stomach  to 
deal  with  something  substantial  is  to  set  it  gently  to  working 
with  something  comparatively  light.  We  have  seen  a  man  in  a 
restaurant,  on  a  reeking  August  morning,  eating  a  sirloin  steak 
all  to  himself,  when  sensible  people  around  him  were  preparing 
for  something  a  little  more  solid  by  eating  the  daintiest  iced 
musk-melons. 

Considering  the  bountifulness  of  this  land  in  all  that  can 
contribute  to  the  table,  the  general  cooking  seems  all  the  more 
execrable.  Praise  of  plain  cooking  is  cool  self-ascription  of  a 
a  virtue  that  has  no  existence,  and  an  aspersion  of  an  art  bj*  one 
who  does  not  pretend  to  be  a  votary  of  it.  There  is  no  true 
plain  cooking  but  among  cannibals,  where  all  condiments  are 


376  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

neglected.  The  plain  cooking  of  civilization  is  only  an  imita- 
tion of  this,  it  is  tin'  negation  of  all  that  the  art  of  cooking 
Bammarizea  in  the  well-being  and  pleasure  of  man.  The  vaunt- 
ing of  plain  cooking  is  an  inheritance  from  the  Englishman  of 
Hogarth's  times,  when  the  French  were  represented  by  the  Eng- 
lish as  living  almost  exclusively  on  frogs,  and  only  Englishmen 
as  properly  fed  with  the  good  roast  beef  of  old  England.  Hence, 
also,  was  derived  such  a  term  as  "kickshaws,"  from  the  French 
" quelque-chose"  as  expressive  of  contempt  for  French  dainties. 
But  if  the  reader  will  look  closely  into  the  matter,  he  will 
find  thai  the  cookery  of  England  at  that  time  down  to  the  very 
present  was,  and  is,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  national  dishes, 
French  cookery,  even  by  French  cooks,  with  all  who  could  or 
can  afford  to  keep  them.  The  English  cooking  of  the  com- 
monalty, the  typical  cooking  of  England,  is  now  what  it  always 
was,  crude  in  the  extreme,  and  remains  of  this,  still  abiding  with 
us,  are  of  the  cannibalistic  order  described,  and  euphemistically 
denominated  in  this  country,  plain  cooking. 

Out  upon  such  transparent  humbug!  If  a  man  or  woman 
cannot  even  broil  a  steak  decently,  they  tell  }"ou  that  the}'  do 
not  pretend  to  be  more  than  plain  cooks.  A  plain  cook  of 
either  sex  is  a  person  who  brings  fire  and  meat  and  vegetables 
together  and  lets  them  fight  it  out  among  themselves  for  a 
dinner.  Unfortunately,  the  fight  does  not  end  there,  the  next 
bout  being  in  the  stomach  of  the  unfortunate  partaker  of  the 
repast,  and  the  next,  perhaps,  with  the  doctor  as  bottle-holder. 

Depend  upon  it  that  cooking  is  an  art,  and  that  plain  cook- 
ing is  the  absence  of  all  art.  Depend  upon  it  that  cooking  is  a 
chemical  art;  not  that  one  must  study  pharmacy  to  achieve  suc- 
cess in  it,  although  we  have  known  a  cook  inadvertently  to  pro- 
duce an  appreciable  amount  of  soap  in  a  dish  by  including  in  it 
the  chemical  constituents.  The  experience  of  millions  of  gener- 
ations of  stomachs,  in  conference  with  minds  that  have  passed 


FOOD,   ITS   RELATION   TO    HEALTH,   BEAUTY,    AND    PLEAS1  BE.       '.',17 

away  with  the  bodies  to  which  they  belonged,  has  resulted  in 
a  clinical  knowledge  of  cookery,  in  its  relation  to  the  stomach, 
that  is  not  to  be  ignored.  Thus  at  least  a  portion  of  the  world 
has  had  transmitted  to  it  from  preceding  generations  valuable 
knowledge  of  what  it  is  profitable  to  eat,  and,  rising  to  aesthetic 
heights,  what  is  in  various  degrees  most  agreeable  to  the  palate. 

The  palate  is  not  an  infallible  criterion  of  what  is  best  fitted 
for  digestion,  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  to  the  experienced  adult,  a 
criterion  of  almost  unerring  judgment.  The  child  is  without  expe- 
rience with  the  palate  as  with  everything  else.  Through  a  subtle 
bond  of  union  of  sentiment,  so  to  speak,  between  the  palate  and 
stomach,  the  law,  to  which  there  is  scarcely  an  exception,  is  that 
what  is  agreeable  to  the  palate  is  digestible  by  the  stomach. 
Of  course,  if  the  article  of  food  is  so  very  agreeable  to  the  per- 
son as  to  induce  surfeit,  that  fact  does  not  militate  against  the 
statement  made  here.  The  case  is  merely  one  of  want  of  judo-, 
ment,  and  hence  we  find  children  more  liable  than  grown  persons 
to  a  surfeit.  In  some  persons  of  educated  taste,  the  discern- 
ment of  the  palate  is  so  marked  a  characteristic  of  their  organ- 
ization, that  the}'  can  place  implicit  faith  in  its  decisions  as  to 
the  digestibility  of  a  particular  food.  There  is  a  class  of  persons, 
we  are  aware,  who,  knowing  full  well  that  a  certain  article  of 
food  is  indigestible  to  them,  deliberately  pretend  that  they  do 
not  know  the  fact,  and  eat  of  it.  We  are  not  speaking  of  such 
persons,  but  of  a  more  sensible  order  of  beings. 

It  should  be  considered  that,  with  the  stomach,  as  with  all 
things  else  in  mankind,  habit  must  be  reckoned  with.  The 
palate  sometimes  revolts  at  an  unaccustomed  food  and  the 
stomach  resents  its  presence,  to  which  food  they  afterward  be- 
come reconciled  and  crave.  When  either  palate  or  stomach  is 
averse  to  the  taking  of  such  food,  it  is  best  to  intermit  trial  of 
the  same  food  for  a  brief  time,  and  then  make  another  essay  to 
like  it.     Nothing  can  be  more  distasteful  to  every  human  beino- 


378  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

than  tobacco  IS  when  it  is  first   tasted,  and  yet  it  is  by  just  such 

a  procedure  that  many  a  boy  glides  insensibly  into  being  a 
chewer  of  the  weed.  If,  after  the  cessation  of  trial  to  acquire  a 
new  taste,  the  article  in  question  is  approached  the  next  time 
with  less  repugnance,  it  is  certain  that  the  taste  for  it  is  being  ac- 
quired through  habit.  And  the  strangest  thing  of  all  in  con- 
nection with  these  secondary  tastes  is,  that  the  more  difficult  one 
is  of  acquirement  the  stronger  the  liking  becomes,  exceeding  in 
strength  even  the  primary  tastes. 

What  we  wish  chiefly  to  impress  upon  the  reader  is  that 
man  is  constituted  so  as  to  be  nearly  omnivorous,  that  when  he 
finds  among  his  own  people,  or  among  other  peoples  equally 
civilized,  tastes  to  which  they  have  not  been  driven  by  necessity, 
he  has  probably  at  the  same  time  found  dishes  which,  with  a 
little  practice,  would  be  agreeable  to  his  palate  ;  and  that  when 
he  becomes  so  reconciled  to  what  was  new  to  him,  he  may  find 
among  them  some  which  have  added  largely  to  his  pleasures  of 
the  table.  He  has  added  not  011I3'  to  his  resources  in  health, but 
to  those  in  sickness,  for  nothing  is  more  difficult  to  resuscitate 
than  a  patient  who  has  a  small  range  of  tastes,  or  is  otherwise 
squeamish  about  his  eating. 

If  you  have  children  to  educate,  do  not  encourage  them  in 
likes  and  dislikes  as  to  well-prepared  food  of  all  sorts.  We  do 
not  mean  that  they  should  be  forced  to  take  what  they  dislike  ; 
that  would  frustrate  the  end  in  view;  but  that  they  should  be  en- 
couraged in  every  way  to  partake  of  a  variet}' of  food,  and  to 
acquire  new  tastes.  How  pitiable  it  is  to  see,  as  we  often  wit- 
ness, meagre,  poorly-nourished  children  in  houses  of  abundance, 
always  selecting  nothing  but  the  white  meat  of  chicken,  never 
venturing  even  to  taste  the  dark,  and  in  other  directions  culti- 
vating,with  the  weak  connivance  of  their  parents,  similar  habits 
of  eating!  Such  as  these,  when  grown  to  manhood  or  woman- 
hood, are  ill-fitted  to  meet  the  vicissitudes  of  life. 


FOOD,   ITS   RELATION    TO    HEALTH,   BEAUTY,    AND   PLEASURE.       379 

We  are  perfectly  well  aware  that  idiosyncrasies  are  80  great 
that  there  are  persons  so  constituted  as  to  be  unable  to  acquire 
any  taste  bej'ond  those  which  they  had  in  the  earliest  childhood. 
But  these  do  not  represent  the  average  of  mankind  ;  indeed, 
the}r  are  abnormal,  and  are  very  limited  in  numbers.  The  average 
child  can,  with  judicious  management,  of  suggestion,  persua- 
sion, instruction,  and  even  of  payment  in  some  form,  be  induced 
to  try  any  new  dish  again  and  again,  until  the  liking  for  it  is 
insensibly  acquired. 

The  old  ascetic  notion  of  the  unworthiness  of  the  bodv  be- 
ing so  great  as  compared  with  the  mind,  that  men  can  afford  to 
despise  and  neglect  it,  has  long  since  vanished.  We  know  now, 
and  to  some  degree  proclaim  and  act  upon  the  belief,  held  by 
some  of  the  ancients,  that  a  sound  mind  cannot  exist  save  in  a 
sound  body.  Our  theories  are  good  enough  ;  it  is  our  practice  that 
fails.  While  a  portion  of  the  world  is  given  to  guzzling  and 
spirituous  bibbing,  another  portion  lacks  due  sustentation  from 
good,  well-prepared,  wholesome  food.  It  is  well  known  that  much 
of  the  drinking  among  the  lowest  classes  in  populous  cities  arises 
from  insufficient  nourishment  impairing  the  tone  of  the  nervous 
S3'stem.  But,  again,  there  is  another  portion  of  the  world  which 
lives  in  the  midst  of  abundance,  within  the  bounds  of  modera- 
tion, well  fed  and  well  housed  and  adequately  nourished. 

To  approximate  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  condition  of 
these  last  should  be  the  aim  of  those  less  highly  favored  by  the 
goods  of  fortune, — those  thousands  of  the  overworked  and  un- 
derfed. But,  unfortunately,  there  is  among  this  class  the  least 
knowledge  of  how  to  make  small  means  go  in  eating  farthest 
toward  health  anclj)leasure.  However,  within  a  few  years,  there 
has  been  some  advance  in  this  direction,  through  the  introduc- 
tion of  cooking-schools,  and  the  publication  of  cheap  cookery 
books  and  of  newspaper  articles  on  general  and  special  dietetic 
subjects. 


S80  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

Our  cookery  in  this  country  has  been  derived  from  vast 
foreign  fields.  The  poorest  of  it  came  from  England.  If  you 
wish  to  realize  by  a  specimen  the  difference  between  cookery 
and  no  cookery,  compare  French-prepared  kidneys  with  English- 
prepared  kidneys,  the  one  delicately  prepared  and  minced, 
seasoned,  sin/ir  and  sent  to  the  table  in  a  chafing  dish;  the 
other,  the  whole  unsightly,  corrugated  kidney  broiled,  without 
a  particle  of  discoverable  seasoning,  and  sent,  to  the  table  to  be 
carved.  Cookery  in  this  country,  at  its  worst  in  New  England, 
and  remaining  unimproved  except  in  the  oasis  of  Boston,  1ms 
been  largely  determined  by  the  advent  of  great  numbers  of 
French,  Italian,  and  other  cooks  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and 
others  of  our  large  cities.  Through  the  French  and  Spanish  popu- 
lation of  New  Orleans  and  vicinity  a  great  ^r:A  of  good  cooking 
was  transfused  through  the  South  and  spread  beyond.  Other 
centres  of  skillfulness  in  the  art  had  their  influence  in  dissemi- 
nating good  met  hods. — Richmond  ;  Charleston,  S.  C;  Baltimore  ; 
Philadelphia,  once  the  favorite  resort  of  foreigners;  St.  Louis, 
and,  in  later  times,  Chicago  and  San  Francisco,  places  that  had 
sprung  up  in  days  long  after  some  of  the  first-named  cities  had 
become  fumed  for  the  production  of  certain  dishes.  From  all 
the  large  cities  knowledge  of  cookery  now  radiates  to  a  certain 
extent  over  the  country,  especially  to  the  West,  to  which  so 
many  people  from  the  crowded  centres  of  population  are  con- 
stantly departing  to  make  them  their  homes.  But,  after  all, 
when  we  consider  the  immensity  of  this  country,  and  the  profu- 
sion of  esculents  with  which  it,  is  blessed,  at  which  foreigners 
of  the  amplest  experience  marvel,  it  must  he  conceded  that,  the 
art  of  cooking  is,  as  compared  with  the  possibilities  growing 
out  of  a  population  of  over  sixty  millions  of  people,  quite  in 
its  infancy. 

It  is  said  that  if  you  be  virt  nous  you  will  be  happy.  We 
prefer  to  parody  the  sentiment  by  saying  that  if  you  will  abjure 


FOOD,  ITS  RELATION  TO  HEALTH,  BEAUTY,  AND  PLEASURE.   381 

plain  cooking  and  learn  the  art  of  cookery,  you  will  be  virtuous, 
for  there  is  no  such  imp  as  one  horn  of  dyspepsia,  bom  of  plain 
cooking,  grandchild  of  Satan  himself,  who  sends  the  cooking, 
not  the  cooks,  for  his  own  evil  purposes. 

The  pleasures  of  the  table  mean  the  pleasure  of  conversa- 
tion as  well  as  that  of  eating.  Silence  at  the  dinner,  when  not 
taken  alone,  means  feeding,  not  dining.  It  has  been  said  that 
only  man  dines,  that  the  brutes  feed.  We  fear  that  man  flatters 
himself  too  much  by  so  sweeping  an  assertion.  The  best  test 
of  refinement  at  table  is  that  of  whether  the  meeting  seems  to 
be  for  the  purpose  of  eating  or  for  that  of  social  intercourse. 
If  the  eating  seems  to  be  but  incidental  to  the  intercourse,  the 
test  is  completely  stood. 

The  pleasures  of  the  table  contribute  directly  and  indirectly 
to  beauty, — directly,  by  the  consumption  of  appetizing  food, 
and  indirectly,  by  surroundings  that  promote  easy  digestion. 
To  suppose  that  it  matters  not  what  one  eats,  so  that  the  ap- 
petite is  satisfied,  shows  want  of  common  observation.  The 
kind  of  food  eaten  largely  affects  the  organization  of  every 
animal,  including  man.  The  habitual  use  of  certain  coarse  foods 
becomes  at  once  apparent  through  their  effect  on  the  skin.  The 
lower  animals  that  are  eaten  evidence  in  their  appearance  the 
influence  of  different  kinds  of  food,  and  that  influence,  even  to 
the  different  flavor  of  the  flesh  which  different  kinds  of  food 
impart. 

It  would  be  a  mistake  for  any  one  to  suppose,  from  what  we 
have  said  in  recommendation  of  variety  in  food,  that  it  is  to  be 
construed  as  advocating  great  variety  at  any  one  meal.  On  the 
contrary,  except  on  certain  occasions,  as  at  dinner-parties,  where 
one  may  remain  seated  for  hours,  great  variety  is  not  desirable. 
For  eveiy-day  life  the  most  delectable  variet3r  is  the  variet}*  of 
well-regulated  sequence.  Were  we  able  to  have  on  our  table 
daily  all  the  various  products  the  market  affords,  it  would  be  a 


382  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY". 

mistake  to  have  them.  Viands  thai  are  constantly  scon  and 
tasted  pall  upon  the  taste.  A  little  air  of  strangeness  makes  us 
return  to  things  with  renewed  avidity.  Hotels  are  under  a 
certain  compulsion  t<>  furnish  everything  in  the  market  simul- 
taneously, because  they  entertain  so  many  guests  of  different 
tastes.  But  one  of  the  consequences  of  attempting  to  prepare 
so  many  dishes  is  that  all  of  them  are  not  well  prepared.  So, 
for  the  management  of  the  private  table  there  is  a  double  reason 
for  not  having  a  great  variety  at,  any  one  meal,  that  the  dishes 
which  do  appear,  being  limited  in  number,  can  all  be  made 
choice,  and  because  the  absent  friends  will  soon  firing  with  them 
renewed  zest  at  their  appearance. 

The  fact  is  that  variety  coming  in  the  guise  of  a  surprise  is 
an  immense  fillip  to  the  pleasure  of  eating  and  the  ease  of  diges- 
tion. It  may  be  that  the  new  dish  is  nothing  but  an  old  ac- 
quaintance from  which  we  parted  not  long  since,  but  it  is  none 
the  less  welcome  if  it  has  come  opportunely  and  does  not  sta}' 
too  long.  This  introduces  a  phase  of  the  table  in  which  Ave 
have  the  profoundest  sympathy  with  women.  The  mistress  of 
the  house  generally  knows  exactly  what  is  coming.  No  pleasant 
surprises  in  this  regard  are  in  store  for  her.  The  master  of  the 
house,  on  the  contrary,  is  always  being  favored  with  them.  This 
is  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  majority  of  women  so  thoroughly 
enjoy  any  little  treat  in  the  v,'ay  of  eating  in  which  the}'  have 
had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  preparation.  Not  being 
able  to  see  a  way  for  them  out  of  their  difficulty,  we  can  but 
extend  to  them  our  heartfelt  sympathy,  congratulate  ourselves 
upon  our  more  favored  estate,  and  avail  ourselves  of  every  op- 
portunity to  make  amends  to  them  by  affording  them  the  pleasure 
which,  like  ourselves,  they  so  heartily  enjoy. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

CLOTHING    IN   ITS   RELATION    TO    HEALTH. 

OUR  province  is  not  to  speak  more  than  incidentally,  as  we 
have  already  availed  ourselves  of  the  opportunity  of 
doing,  of  clothing  from  the  point  of  view  of  dress.  It  is  simply 
to  speak  of  clothing  as  a  protective,  healthful,  and  agreeable 
covering  of  the  body. 

To  enable  us  to  exercise,  in  the  particulars  mentioned,  sound 
judgment  with  reference  to  the  choice  of  clothing  for  different 
purposes,  we  should  know  certain  fundamental  facts  regard i no1 
the  behavior  of  the  ordinary  substances  that,  as  fibres,  are  con- 
verted into  clothing.  This  knowledge,  coupled  with  apprecia- 
tion of  the  fact  that  clothes  do  not,  of  themselves,  make  warmth 
or  coplness,  but  are  serviceable  in  cold  weather  to  retain  the  heat 
that  the  body  generates,  and  in  hot  weather  to  exclude  the 
greater  exterior  as  compared  with  the  interior  temperature,  is 
sufficient,  with  one  addition,  to  enable  any  one  to  understand 
the  philosophy  of  clothing.  That  addition  is,  that  it  should  be 
remembered  that  at  all  times  the  body  transpires,  or  gives  off 
moisture  through  its  pores,  and  that  this  circumstance  cannot 
be  ignored  in  the  selection  of  the  material  out  of  which  the 
clothing  is  made. 

As  it  is  the  heat  of  the  body  which  is  to  be  preserved,  if  we 
wish  to  be  warm,  or  the  excessive  outside  heat  which  is  to  be 
excluded,  if  we  wish  to  be  cool,  the  best  fabric  for  both  purposes 
must  be  that  which  is  made  of  some  substance  that  is  relatively 
non-conducting  to  heat.  Additionally,  although  we  wish  to 
retain  or  to  exclude  heat,  the  mesh  of  the  fabric  must  always  be 
adapted  to  allowing  to  pass  through  it  the  evaporation  of  the 
moisture  from  the  skin.    Hence,  a  suit  of  leather,  such  as  knights 

(383) 


384  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL    BEAUTY, 

used  to  wear  under  their  armor,  must  have  been  unhealthy.  It 
was  good  as  a  non-conductor  of  heat,  and  had  a  certain  degree 
of  porosity,  but  not  sufficient  to  make  desirable  clothing  for  the 
whole  person. 

Linen  is  not  a  good  fabric  for  underwear,  even  in  a  hot  cli- 
mate, because  linen  is  a  good  conduetor  of  heat,  presenting  con- 
ditions just  the  opposite  of  those  that  are  best  suited  for  the 
purposes  of  clothing, — those  which  are  secured  by  materials 
that  are  bad  conductors.  Linen,  besides,  readily  absorbs  the 
moisturfe  of  the  body,  which  circumstance  still  further  promotes 
the  loss  of  bodily  heat  in  a  cold  climate,  or,  in  a  warm  climate, 
facilitates  the  passage  inward  of  the  excessive  outside  heat. 
This  objectionableness  of  linen  for  underclothing,  inherent  in  the 
physical  constitution  of  the  substance  itself,  we  can  obviate, 
when  desirable,  by  wearing  a  garment  under  the  linen  composed 
of  a  material  that  is  a  bad  conductor;  but  then,  it  will  be  ob- 
served, the  linen  has  ceased  to  be  an  undergarment.  With 
nothing  but  a  single  thickness  of  linen  next  the  skin,  a  sudden 
drop  of  the  outside  temperature  will  cause  a  chill  to  strike  to  the 
very  marrow.  This  is  because  the  heat  of  the  body  passes 
readily  through  the  slight  opposition  of  the  fabric,  so  good  is  it 
as  a  conductor  of  heat.  We  once  tried  to  wear  linen  shirts  in 
very  hot  weather,  but  found  them,  in  alternations  of  tempera- 
ture, far  from  agreeable. 

On  the  contrary,  nothing  is  more  delightful  for  hot  weather 
than  are  linen  sheets.  Here,  the  quality  of  linen  in  being  a 
good  conductor  of  heat  serves  well  the  heat-oppressed  sleeper, 
conducting,  as  it  does,  the  heat  so  rapidly  from  the  surface 
of  the  body  as  to  make  radiation -buck  to  it  inappreciable.  Be- 
sides, the  fibre  of  linen  is  round  and  smooth,  rendering  fabrics 
made  of  it  singularly  agreeable  to  the  touch  when  coolness 
is  desirable.  An  analogous  though  opposite  gratification  to 
that   afforded    from  touching  or   seeing   good  blankets  in   the 


CLOTHING   IN    ITS   RELATION    TO    HEALTH.  385 

winter-time  is  experienced  from  seeing  and  feeling  linen  sheets 
in  the  summer. 

Taking  it  for  all  in  all,  wool  is  the  best  fabric  for  wear  next 
the  skin.  But  this  cannot  be  said  without  the  qualification  that 
much  depends  upon  the  quality  of  the  wool.  We  have  a  lively 
recollection  of  a  terribly  cold  walk  that  we  once  took,  with  snow 
on  the  ground,  through  the  open  country,  when,  coming  to  a  way- 
side store,  it  occurred  to  us  to  buy  a  pair  of  long,  coarse,  woolen 
stockings  for  protection  from  the  severe  cold.  Such  was  the 
exacerbation  to  the  skin  from  the  rude  material  of  the  stockings, 
that  by  nightfall  our  legs  were  covered  from  ankle  to  knee  with 
a  profuse  eruption,  which  subsided  at  once  as  soon  as  the  active 
cause  of  the  irritation  was  removed. 

In  heat-retaining  and  excluding  merits,  the  common  ma- 
terials for  clothing  rank  as  follows, — woolen,  cotton,  silk.  We 
have  said  sufficient  on  the  score  of  linen.  For  outside  garments, 
whether  for  men  or  women,  it  is  admirable  for  hot  weather.  It 
is  much  used  for  dresses  by  men  and  women  of  tropical  climates, 
the  fine-linen  market  of  Cuba  being  one  of  the  best  i*i  the  world. 

Cotton  is  the  most  generally  agreeable  wear  for  under- 
garments, if  not  in  immediate  contact  with  the  skin;  at  least, 
next  to  the  garment  which  is  in  immediate  contact  with  it.  Our 
own  opinion  is  that  no  climate  is  so  hot  that  the  health  is  not 
the  better  for  wearing  a  woolen  garment  next  to  the  skin.  This, 
in  tropical  countries,  should,  of  course,  be  of  the  texture  that  is 
known  as  gauze-merino.  Cotton  does  not  absorb  moisture  so 
readily  as  linen  does,  and,  after  all  that  we  have  said,  it  is  hardly 
needful  to  remark  that  it  is  much  warmer  than  linen.  For  socks 
or  stockings  it  has,  under  certain  conditions  of  their  use,  singular 
unfitness.  To  become  footsore  on  a  long  pedestrian  tour,  one 
could  not  devise  a  better  plan  than  to  use  cotton  socks  or  stock- 
ings. That  very  peculiarity  of  the  substance  of  which  we  just 
spoke;  that  it  does  not  absorb  moisture  so  readily  as  linen  does, 


HEREDITY,    HEALTH,     \\l>    PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

should  be  expanded  here  into  the  Fullness  of  the  fact  that  it 
absorbs  moisture  very  reluctantly.  The  consequence  of  this  is, 
that  the  great  exudation  From  the  feet  while  exercising  is  largely 
retained,  the  sock  or  stocking,  drying,  becomes  in  places  on  the 
foot  a  hard,  uncompromising  mass,  and  the  next  thing  one  funis 
himself  footsore.  The  proper  footgear  to  walk  long  distances 
in.  no  matter  how  hot  the  weal  her,  is  woolen  stockings,  or  merino 
ones,  made  of  soft  material. 

Silken  underwear  is,  for  some  skins,  and  in  sonic  conditions 
of  health,  the  most  delightful  possible.  It  is  a  bad  conductor, 
and  therefore  makes  a  good  clothing  for  persons  who  do  not 
come  within  certain  categories  of  skin  and  health  conditions. 
The  question  of  whether  individuals  do  or  do  not  can  he  settled 
only  by  their  personal  trial,  or  by  the  opinion  of  ;i  physician, 
guided  by  a  full  history  of  the  case.  In  gouty  and  rheumatic 
affections,  supposing  that  there  is  no  contra-indication  to  the 
wearing  of  silk,  the  electrical  condition  that  it  excites  in  the 
skin  is  beneficial  to  persons  predisposed  to  these  affections.  But 
this  same  electrical  excitation  of  the  skin  is  prejudicial  in  the 
case  of  cutaneous  disorders.  AW-  knew  a  case,  some  years  ago, 
where  a  tendency  to  rheumatic  gout  had  been  sensibly  abated  by 
the  wearing  of  a  complete  suit  of  silk  underclothing,  when  some 
years  afterward  an  attack  of  senile  prurigo  in  the  same  person 
was  stimulated  and  heightened  by  continuing  to  wear  the  \<r\ 
garments  that  had  proved  so  beneficial  in  counteracting  the 
rheumatic-gOUt}'  tendency. 

Of  course  color  has  much  to  do  with  the  warmth  of  gar- 
ments. Whenever  there  are  heat  and  cold  ami  light  (and  that, 
excepting  with  reference  to  light,  is  always),  the  color  of  gar- 
ments enters  into  the  determination  of  their  qualities  with 
reference  to  temperature.  Taking  an  obvious  case,  if  we 
should  have  a  wdiite  woolen  coat  dyed  black,  it  would  become 
warmer,  because,  as  black,  the  material  would  absorb  more  heat. 


CLOTHING    JN    ITS    RELATION   TO    HEALTH.  387 

It  would  also,  because  absorbing  heat  rapidly,  rapidly  radiate  if  ; 
but,  on  the  whole,  it  would  be  warmer  than  the  white  coat,  at 
least  as  long  as  it  was  subjected  to  light,  and  to  heat  greater 
than  that  generated  by  the  body.  If,  in  continuous  exposure  to 
the  weather,  say  in  tent-life  in  the  winter,  a  man  should  wear  a 
black  coat  by  day,  and  a  white  coat  of  the  same  fabric,  weight, 
and  make  by  night,  he  would  best  utilize  heat — outer  heat  by 
absorption ;  inner  heat,  or  heat  of  the  body,  by  its  conservation. 
This  is  only  stating  in  terms  of  illustration  the  preceding  fact. 

In  our  climate,  the  very  best  course  to  pursue  with  regard 
to  change  of  clothing,  to  accord  with  change  of  outside  tempera- 
ture, is  to  have  at  least  two,  or  even  three,  grades  of  thicknesses 
of  underclothing,  for  spring,  autumn,  and  winter  wear,  the 
thicker  of  which  will  sometimes  find  a  place  even  in  a  sudden 
lowering  of  temperature  in  summer  weather,  and  temporarily 
supersede  the  gauze  drawers  and  undervest  of  that  season. 

At  no  season  of  the  year  should  we  be  without  some  fabric, 
not  muslin  or  linen,  immediately  next  to  the  skin,  and  from 
what  has  been  said,  this  fabric  ought  to  be  woolen,  merino,  or 
even  silk,  under  the  limitations  mentioned.  If  this  fabric  per- 
formed no  other  function  than  that  of  absorbing  and  slowly 
liberating  the  moisture  from  the  booty,  the  practice  of  wearing  it 
would  be  amply  rewarded.  If  people  would  but  remember  that 
the  aim  of  health  should  be  to  guard  against  the  vicissitudes  of 
weather,  and  to  maintain  equableness  in  the  temperature  of  the 
surface  of  the  body,  there  would  be  less  sickness  and  death  from 
colds,  and  a  much  larger  aggregate  of  pleasure  in  the  world. 
The  gratification  of  the  whim  of  a  moment  often  leads  a  girl  to 
an  exposure  to  cold  that  costs  her  her  life.  A  fall  of  twenty  or 
thirty  degrees  in  the  thermometer,  or  a  sudden  chilliness  of  the 
air,  should  mean  to  sensible  people  the  adoption  of  instant  pre- 
cautions to  avoid  cold. 

The  unthinking  portion  of  the  world  goes  much  more  bj'  the 


388  HEREDITY,    IIKAI.TII.   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

almanac  than  it  ever  directly  admits.  We  knew  a  man  -who, 
every  spring,  according  t<>  the  almanac,  used  to  Bay  to  hi*  chil- 
dren,  on  the  first  fine  day,  "The  back  of  the  winter  is  broken;  I 
must  change  my  underclothing,"  the  result  of  which  always  was 
that  he  was  confined  to  the  house  with  a  cold  for  the  next  few 
days.  'We  know  plenty  of  people  who  will  not  light  a  lire  until 
they  deem  that  the  almanac  warrants  their  having  a  fire.  For 
our  part,  if  the  weather  is  cold  enough  we  have  a  fire  in  July, 
and  if  it  is  hot  enough  we  fan  ourselves  in  December.  So 
experience  and  common  sense,  and  we,  as  their  temporary  repre- 
sentative, alike  proclaim  as  reasonable. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

VENTILATION   WITH   REFERENCE   TO    HEALTH. 

EVERY  one  has  some  notion,  however  inadequate  as  a 
proper  guide  to  practice,  of  the  value  of  fresh  air;  advice 
to  take  fresh  air  being  prescribed  by  every  one  for  himself  and 
others.  This  general  notion,  however,  goes  but  a  little  way 
toward  the  proper  regulation  of  life  with  reference  to  the 
necessity  to  health  of  having  constantly  an  abundant  supply  of 
fresh  air,  for  thousands  of  persons  who  realize  the  hygienic 
value  of  out-door  air  take  not  the  slightest  precaution  as  to 
securing  purity  of  air  in  their  dwellings ;  and  }^et,  upon  an 
average,  more  than  the  half  of  life  is  spent  in-doors. 

Therefore,  to  possess  really  valuable  knowledge  on  the 
subject,  such  as  leads  to  establishing  the  habit  of  ventilating,  it 
is  necessary  that  the  requirement  of  the  body  as  to  pure  air 
shall  be  known.  Pure  air  is  just  as  much  the  food  of  the  body 
as  comestibles  are.  The  breathing  of  persons  in  the  closed 
spaces  called  rooms  vitiates  the  air.  Every  person  by  breathing 
contributes  just  so  much  poison  to  it  constantly.  The  flame 
of  an  ordinary  gas-burner  makes  a  draught  upon  it  equal  to 
the  breathing  of  it  by  four  persons.  Nature  takes  care  of  the 
purity  of  out-door  air,  and  is  ready  to  aid  us  in  taking  care  of 
that  in-doors ;  but  if  we  do  not  accept  the  proffered  aid,  it  does 
not  compel  us  to  do  so.  It  merely  visits  this,  as  an  infraction 
of  one  of  the  laws  of  health,  with  feebleness,  sickness,  and 
death. 

An  errpneous  popular  notion  confounds  warm  air  with  im- 
pure  air,  and  cool  air  with  pure  air.  A  room  is  not  necessarily 
close  because  it  is  too  warm,  nor  necessariby  pure  because  it  is 
cool.     One  of  the  most  sickening  of  all  smells  is  in  the  close,  cold 

(389) 


300  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AM)   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

houses  of  the  wretchedly  poor,  who  are  constrained,  in  order 
to  avoid  Buffering  from  cold,  to  exclude  outside  air  as  much  as 
possible.  Of  course,  both  warm  air  and  cool  air  may  be  impure 
to  any  degree  down  to  foul,  but,  of  the  two  kinds,  the  warm 
air  is,  under  average  conditions,  likely  to  be  the  purer,  because 
constantly  tending  to  be  purified  by  interchange  of  volume  for 
volume  with  the  outside  fresh  air,  whereas  the  cool  air  remains 
relatively  stagnant. 

This  last  observation  naturally  leads  at  once  to  the  inquiry  as 
to  wliai  is  the  active  agency  in  the  purification  of  the  air  of  houses. 
The  determination  of  that  question,  and  the  best  action  deducible 
from  it,  make  the  basis  of  the  whole  art  of  ventilation. 

To  ventilate  a  house  is  not  to  purify  the  air  in  it,  but 
gradually  to  get  rid  of  the  impure  air  in  it  by  gradually  re- 
placing it  with  fresh  air.  The  air  in  it  is,  as  compared  with 
outside  air,  always  more  or  less  impure;  so  our  object  should  be 
so  to  dilute  the  whole  intermingled  volumes  of  good  and  bad 
air  by  a  constantly-entering  volume  of  pure  air,  that  the  air  of 
the  house  shall  be  virtually  pure. 

This  purpose  can  be  accomplished  in  two,  and  in  on]y  two, 
ways:  by  mechanical  means,  such  as  pumps  and  fans,  and  by 
natural  means — action  growing  out  of  the  difference  of  density 
of  contiguous  volumes  of  air.  The  mechanical  means  are  best 
adapted  to  certain  classes  of  buildings  and  to  mines;  the  natural 
means  are  for  all  the  world.  It  is  only  with  reference  to  the 
latter  that  we  are  called  upon  to  speak,  for  they  represent 
ordinary  ventilation. 

Air  becomes  less  and  less  dense,  that  is,  becomes  lighter 
and  lighter,  the  more  that  it  is  heated.  Consequently,  air  in 
houses  tends  to  lie  in  what  we  may,  for  convenience^  regard  as 
a  series  of  strata  gradually  growing  from  below  warmer  and 
warmer  as  they  grow  less  and  less  dense  in  ascending  to  greater 
and  greater  heights. 


VENTILATION    WITH    REFERENCE   TO    HEALTH.  391 

In  the  winter-time,  in  the  climate  of  Philadelphia,  rooms 
are,  when  their  occupants  can  afford  to  heat  them  at  pleasure, 
at  the  temperature  of  about  70°  Fall.,  and  the  outside  tem- 
perature ranges  from  about  zero  to  40°  Fall.  We  have,  under 
these  conditions,  plenty  of  motive  power  at  our  disposal  to  dis- 
charge the  impure  air  from  our  houses,  and  take  in  place  of  il, 
all  the  pure  air  necessary  for  health.  If  we  foolishly  caulk  up 
and  weather-strip  every  perceptible  aperture,  we  should  not  be 
surprised  at  producing  weakly  conditions,  nor  even  at  the  ap- 
pearance of  typhoid  fever.  We  have  unlimited  pure  air  at  our 
disposal,  and  all  the  necessary  means  of  moving  it,  both  fur- 
nished by  nature.  If  we  bar  nature  out  from  acting,  we  do  it  at 
our  own  cost. 

The  next  question  that  arises  is  as  to  what  is  the  volume  of 
the  stream  of  air  that  we  should  discharge  from  our  dwellings, 
in  order  to  insure  that  the  corresponding  volume  of  outside  air 
received  shall  maintain  that  in  the  reservoir  of  the  house  in  a 
virtually  pure  condition.  Statistics  say  that  the  lowest  permis- 
sible fresh  air  eveiy  hour  for  a  grown  person  is  1000  cubic  feet. 
A  preferable  amount  to  this  is  deemed  to  be  2000  cubic  feet  per 
hour,  and  some  persons  advocate  even  3000  cubic  feet  per  hour. 
Higher  amounts  are  needed  for  the  sick,  some  sanitarians 
recommending  as  high  as  3000  to  4000  cubic  feet  for  the  sick. 
All  these  estimates  are,  of  course,  founded  upon  investiga- 
tion of  the  degree  to  which  air  in  a  house  is  liable  to  become 
vitiated  from  breathing  and  other  causes. 

It  follows,  from  what  has  been  said,  that  the  best  ventilation 
is  that  which  supplies  ample  amount  of  air  without  changing 
the  temperature  and  without  occasioning  draughts.  In  turn  it 
follows  that  outside  air  allowed  to  enter  a  building  is  best 
injected  through  many  sources  of  supply,  and  best  ejected 
through  many  vents.  The  proper  movement  of  the  air  there, 
and  the  consequent  purity  of  the  air,  depend  as  much  upon  the 


392  HEREDITY,    HEALTH.   AND    PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

possibility  of  exit  as  of  entrance.  1  f  registers  of  a  cellar-furnace 
are  giving  out  in  lower  rooms  of  a  bouse  a  large  volume  of 
heated  air,  it  is  en-tain  that  an  equal  volume  of  air  is  in  some 
way  or  other  finding  escape  from  tin-  house.     Bui  although,  as 

we  have  said,  tin-  warmer  the  air  is,  the  higher  it  will  ascend,  it 
must,  not   he  restrained  from  ascending.     Like  everything  else 

in  motion,  it  goes  in  the  lines  of  least  resistance.  If  the 
windows  in  the  upper  stories  of  the  house  are  almost  hermeti- 
cally sealed,  ami  those  near  the  register  are  comparatively  free 
for  the  egress  of  air,  the  hot  air  will  escape  through  the  latter, 
ami  thus  lie  wasted  for  the  useful  office  of  passing  through  and 
warming  and  scouring  out  the  upper  rooms. 

Draughts  are  obviated  by  the  simplesl  precautions.  In  the 
best  dwelling-houses,  hospitals,  and  factories,  the  ventilation  is 
effected  by  means  of  vertical  shafts  in  the  walls,  so  arranged 
that  the  ingress  of  fresh  air  is  near  the  floor  and  of  waste  air 
near  the  ceiling,  but  so  that  the  registers  for  these  different 
purposes  shall  not  be  exactly  underneath  each  other.  But, 
without  these  appliances,  by  judicious  use  of  windows,  depress- 
ing the  sashes  above  and  raising  them  below,  with  guards,  if 
necessary,  for  the  open  space  below,  all  draughts  in  a  house  can 
be  prevented,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  may  be  ventilated 
thoroughly.  In  the  cold  winter  climate  of  this  latitude,  the 
ventilation  may  be  sufficiently  secured  by  means  of  the  cracks 
in  the  sashes,  if  persons  would  forbear  from  a  general  weather- 
stripping  of  the  house.  Eveiy  case  is  a  special  one,  to  be 
considered  and  acted  upon  as  such.  The  whole  question  upon 
which  to  base  a  decision  is  as  to  the  fact  of  how  much  fresh  air 
is  being  received.  Different  kinds  of  building  result  in  such 
differences  of  permeability  in  different  houses,  that  no  general 
rule  can  be  given  as  to  whether  or  not  to  weather-strip,  and,  if  it 
be  decided  to  weather-strip,  to  what  degree  to  have  it  done. 

In  the  morning,  after  the  family  have  risen  and  left  their 


VENTILATION    WITH   REFERENCE   TO    HEALTH.  393 

sleeping-rooms,  the  bedclothes  should  bo  strewn  loosely  around 
away  from  the  bed,  and  the  windows  be  opened,  much  or  little 
according  to  the  outside  temperature,  the  doors  leading  to  the 
rest  of  the  house  being  closed  during  the  airing  of  the  apart- 
ments. Bedrooms  and  bedclothing  should  thus  be  aired  every 
day  for  not  less  than  half  an  hour. 

Unless  the  region  is  malarious,  outside  air  should  be  freely 
but  judiciously  admitted  through  the  night  into  sleeping-apart- 
ments. If  the  outside  temperature  is  low,  an  opening  that  will 
keep  the  air  of  the  room  well  renovated  need  be  only  half  the 
size  of  that  employed  when  the  temperature  of  the  outside  air  is 
twice  as  high.  The  direction  and  strength  of  the  wind,  too,  are 
to  be  considered.  If  it  is  blowing  directly  toward  the  windows, 
it  will  change  the  air  of  the  room  much  more  than  a  calm  would 
do  it,  or  than  a  wind  blowing  in  any  other  direction  ;  it  will 
change  it,  in  fact,  proportionately  to  the  velocity  as  well  as  the 
coolness  of  the  wind. 

A  very  unjust  prejudice  exists  against  night  air.  The  very 
same  person  who  praises  the  earliest  morning  air  and  decries 
the  air  of  night  forgets  that  thejr  are  the  same.  Night  air  is 
perfectly  wholesome  in  a  healthy  country.  If  3-011  should  ever 
have  the  opportunity  of  living  in  a  tent  properly  constructed, 
with  board  floor  laid  on  scantling,  and  with  a  protective  fly,  you 
will  find  that  you  never  before  knew  the  delight  of  pure  exist- 
ence. Do  not,  however,  commit  the  folly  suggested  a  few 
months  ago  by  some  inexperienced  person,  who  recommended 
ladies  to  go  to  some  place  in  the  wilds  for  the  summer,  and 
there,  as  he  phrased  it,  "  plunge  into  the  woods,"  Irv  camping 
out.  In  the  first  place,  a  healtlry  camp  is  never  pitched  in  the 
woods,  but  near  them;  and  secondly,  for  people  unaccustomed 
to  such  a  life,  nothing  could  be  more  arduous.  "We  say,  as  one 
who  has  had  pleasant  experience  in  camp,  and  seen  woful 
experience  of  others,  that  to  enjoj'  camp  life  it  is  necessary  to 


304  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

have  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water.  To  serve  as  these, 
and  additionally,  as  conks,  is  work,  real  hard  work.  It  is 
absurd  to  Buppose  that  life  in  ramp  does  not  entail  household 
work,  and  ladies  who  plunge  into  the  woods  with  the  opposite 
impression  will  be  very  glad  to  plunge  out  of  them. 

One  of  the  besl  of  sanitary  appliances  for  a  room  in  the  winter, 
and  especially  tor  the  sick-room,  is  an  open  fire-place  for  burning 
wood.  There  is  always  a  column  of  air  flowing  languidly  up  the 
chimney  when  the  lire,  temporarily  unneeded,  has  been  allowed 
to  go  out,  and  flowing  rapidly  up  it  when  the  lire  is  burning. 
Thus  the  room,  supposing  that  it  does  not  receive  its  chief  sup- 
plies of  air  from  neighboring  tenanted  apartments,  is  always 
kept  in  the  most  sanitary  condition  without  the  slightest  percep- 
tible draught.  Even  in  the  summer-time,  the  up-draught  in  the 
chimney  is  admirable  for  changing,  purifying,  and  deodorizing 
the  air  in  the  apartment. 

In  heating  houses  b}~  furnaces  in  the  cellar  there  is  no  neces- 
sity of  drawing  your  supply  of  air  for  the  air-chamber  of  the 
furnace  directly  from  the  outside,  if  only  your  cellar  is  perfectly 
dry  and  sweet.  In  fact,  if  the  cellar  is,  as  it  should  be,  in  a  per- 
fectly sanitary  condition,  some  air  from  the  cellar  should  be 
utilized  in  the  furnace  air-chamber,  even  if  you  have  a  fresh-air 
conduit  leading  to  it  from  the  outside  of  the  building;  for  the 
cellar,  as  well  as  other  portions  of  a  dwelling,  needs  its  scouring 
out  by  a  constant  flow  of  pure  air  through  it. 

Much  illness  results  from  cellars  kept  in  an  unsanitary  con- 
dition. Do  not  let  a  decayed  fruit  or  vegetable  or  a  piece  of 
spoiled  meat  remain  there  for  a  minute.  Inspect  it  regularly  to 
make  sure  that  domestics  in  your  house  do  not  Adolate  some  hy- 
gienic rule.  We  knew  a  case  once  where  disease  broke  out  in  a 
house,  and  it  was  discovered  that  the  domestics  had  been  using 
one  of  the  coal-bins  as  a  receptacle  for  slops.  If  the  condition 
of  the  cellar  is  perfect,  it  is  for  the  best  in  the  general  ventilation 


VENTILATION    WITH   REFERENCE    TO    HEALTH.  305 

of  a  house,  that'the  air  should  be  drawn  directly  from  the  cellar, 
and  indirectly  from  the  outside,  because  the  air  in  the  cellar  is 
thus  constantly  changed  and  remains  purer  than  it  can  possibly 
be  in  any  other  part  of  the  house.  Remember,  however,  that 
when  this  plan  is  adopted  there  should  be  an  ample  opening  in 
one  of  the  cellar-windows,  not  less  than  that  afforded  by  the 
taking  out  of  a  whole  pane  of  glass,  to  allow  of  free  access  to 
the  furnace  air-chamber  of  the  air  from  the  outside  of  the  house. 
Otherwise,  air  from  rooms  contiguous  to  the  cellar,  and  in  most 
houses  from  the  kitchen,  will  be  drawn  down  into  the  air-cham- 
ber to  supply  it  with  air  as  a  substitute  for  that  which  is  inade- 
quately struggling  to  reach  it  through  the  cracks  around  the 
cellar-windows. 

Would  that  we  could  influence  the  buyers  and  renters  of 
moderate,  small,  and  the  slenderest  means  to  compel  builders 
to  introduce  on  the  house-tops  of  our  large  cities  of  this  part 
of  the  country  shaded  places  for  family  and  friendly  summer 
gatherings.  Philadelphia  is  in  most  respects  the  city  of  cities 
for  comforts,  but  the  summer  heats  are  not  of  these.  Eveiy  one 
does  not  escape  to  Europe,  the  mountains,  or  the  sea-shore.  The 
majority  must  remain  at  home  through  long  spells  of  exhausting 
heat.  It  is  for  such  as  these,  as  we  have  alreacty  tried  indirectly 
to  impress  upon  the  general  public,  through  an  article  contributed 
last  winter  to  the  Medical  Register,  that  the  sanitary  effects  and 
solace  of  pleasant  house-tops  are  needed.  From  their  use,  the 
decrease  in  the  summer  mortality,  especially  among  children, 
would  be  amazing  to  most  persons,  and  the  added  boon  that  they 
would  confer,  during  the  heated  term,  on  the  life  of  stifling  alleys 
and  courts  would  be  incalculable. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE   CIRCULATION   AND   DIGESTION. 

A  WORK  of  this  sort,  in  which  so  much  has  been  said  as  to 
the  bodily  functions,  should  not  omit  some  general  men- 
tion of  the  special  functions  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  and 
the  digestion  of  food.  Accordingly,  before  proceeding  to  our 
concluding  chapters  on  miscellaneous  matters,  cosmetic  articles, 
household  recipes,  etc.,  we  give  a  brief  description  of  these 
processes. 

The  popular  notion  of  respiration  is  that  it  is  represented 
only  by  an  alternate  expansion  and  contraction  of  the  chest, 
corresponding  to  the  inspiration  aiid  expiration  of  air.  But, 
respiration  being  fundamentally  the  consumption  of  ox}rgen  and 
the  liberation  of  carbonic-acid  gas  and  aqueous  vapor,  it  takes 
place  in  other  ways.  The  gills  of  the  fish  absorb  the  oxygen 
present  in  water  and  liberate  carbonic-acid  gas.  The  human 
skin  aids  the  lungs  to  some  degree  by  respiration.  The  unborn 
child,  as  we  have  already  incidentally  mentioned,  respires  entirely 
by  means  of  the  placenta  of  the  mother, — a  temporary  organ  of 
vascular  character,  which,  known  as  the  after-birth,  follows  the 
course  which  the  latter  name  indicates. 

Between  birth  and  death  the  human  organism  breathes,  as  is 
well  known,  by  means  of  the  lungs,  save,  as  has  been  indicated, 
to  a  certain  extent  by  the  skin.  The  vital  functions  of  digestion 
and  circulation,  of  which  respiration  is  a  part,  proceed  as  fol- 
lows :  The  food  taken  into  the  stomach  forms  a  pulp,  which  has 
absorbed  saliva  and  other  fluids  as  the  food  finds  its  way  to  the 
more  potent  digestive  fluids  of  the  stomach  proper.  This  pulp, 
known  as  chyme,  is,  then,  a  mass  of  food  that  has  gone  through 
some  chemical  change  representing  partial  digestion;  the  process 

(397) 


398  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL    BEAT  TV. 

of  digestion  being  that  which  renders  food  lit  for  the  renovation 
of  the  blood,  and  through  it  of  the  general  system.  In  this 
condition  the  chyme  passes  from  the  Btomach  into  the  first  part 
of  the  intestines,  a  short  sac  of  greater  diameter  than  that  of 
the  small  intestine,  which  is  continuous  with  it  ;  the  small  intes- 
tine, in  turn,  leading  into  the  lai'ger  intestine,  which  closes  the 
alimentary  t  racl . 

This  part  of  the  bowels  into  which  the  food  first  enters  from 
the  stomach  is  called  the  duodenum.  The  duodenum  is  entered 
by  ducts  leading  from  the  gall-bladder  and  the  pancreas.  The 
gall-bladder  is  the  liver's  reservoir  for  bile.  The  pancreas,  which 
has  been  likened  to  internal  salivary  glands,  secretes  the  so-called 
pancreatic  fluid.  At  the  point  of  time  when  the  chyme  enters 
the  duodenum,  nerve-signals  transmit  the  fact  to  the  gall-bladder 
and  the  pancreas,  and  the}'  pour  their  fluids  (bile  and  pancreatic 
juices)  into  the  duodenum,  and  thereby  a  further  chemical  change 
is  produced  in  the  chyme,  and  it  is  converted  into  a  product 
called  chyle, representing  the  ultimate  digestive  elaboration  of  the 
food.  The  process  continues  b}'  the  absorption  of  the  chyle  by 
the  blood  through  the  intermediation  of  a  multitude  of  ducts  of 
exquisite  fineness  belonging  to  the  lymphatic  system.  The  main 
body  of  the  chyle  rises  from  the  duodenum  through  a  duct, 
called  the  thoracic  duct,  to  an  opening,  under  the  left  collar-bone, 
of  a  vein  called  the  left  subclavian  vein,  and  also,  to  a  lesser  de- 
gree, by  another  duct  into  the  right  subclavian  vein,  and  thence 
through  the  heart  and  the  lungs  into  the  general  circulation,  thus 
renewing  the  blood. 

The  product  of  lymph,  as  saturated  with  chyle  and  absorbed 
by  veins  and  capillaries,  may  be  regarded  as  a  sublimated  sort 
of  blood.  The  process  of  the  absorption  of  this  renovating  fluid 
does  notecase  at  the  point  mentioned.  Throughout  the  body  is 
continued  the  absorption  of  the  chyme,  down  to  the  small  intes- 
tine, followed  by  the  succeeding  portion  of  the  intestines, — the 


THE   CIRCULATION   AND  DIGESTION.  399 

larger  intestine,  or  colon, — which  becomes  finally, in  the  rectum, 
a  duct  releasing  the  excrementitious  matter  to  be  voided  by  the 
system. 

The  mode  in  which  sapid,  or  soluble,  matters  are  utilized  in 
the  system  having  been  thus  briefly  described,  it  remains  only 
to  speak  of  the  general  circulation  of  the  blood,  by  which  they 
are  carried  to  different  portions  of  the  body.  The  heart,  as  is 
well  known,  is  a  force-pump.  It  consists  of  four  chambers, — the 
right  auricle  and  ventricle,  and  the  left  auricle  and  ventricle,  with 
valves  adapted  to  the  functions  now  to  be  described.  The  blood 
is,  by  its  automatic  contraction  of  the  right  auricle,  propelled 
from  it  into  the  right  ventricle,  and  thence  into  the  lungs,  there 
receiving  oxygenation.  From  the  lungs  it  is  received  by  the 
left  auricle  of  the  heart,  which  forces  it  into  the  left  ventricle, 
which  in  turn  transmits  it  to  the  greatest  artery  of  the  bodj-, 
the  aorta,  whence  by  innumerable  ramifications  of  smaller  arteries, 
and  through  the  net-work  of  capillaries  connecting  the  arterial 
with  the  venous  s3Tstem,  it  reaches  every  part  of  the  human  or- 
ganism, finally  returning,  through  the  venous  system,  to  the 
right  auricle  of  the  heart.  The  bloodvessel  sjrstem  is  provided 
with  valves,  so  that  the  blood  can  flow  in  onty  one  determinate 
direction,  from  the  right  side  of  the  heart  to  the  lungs,  from  the 
lungs  to  the  left  side  of  the  heart,  thence  to  the  extremities  of 
the  body,  and  thence,  on  its  return  to  the  right  side  of  the  heart, 
to  repeat  the  same  round. 

As  might  well  be  supposed  of  an  animal  so  nighty  organized 
as  man  is,  who  owes  his  pre-eminence  to  a  nervous  system  of 
extremely  great  relative  power  and  delicacy,  the  organism  is  so 
adapted  to  its  needs  that  the  best  blood  goes  to  the  chief  portion 
of  the  nervous  system,  the  controlling  brain.  This  condition  is 
based  on  a  circulatory  system  of  a  higher  order  than  that  pos- 
sessed by  many  animals.  Whereas,  in  ranks  of  creation  below 
that  of  birds,  the  arterial  and  venous  bloods  often  commingle  in 


400  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    and   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

the  heart  :  in  the  heart  of  the  most  perfectly  differentiated  beings 
the  arterial  is  separated  from  the  venous  blood.  In  some  inver- 
tebrates,or  spineless  animals, the  circulatory  apparatus  is  so  low 
in  order  that,  instead  of  their  possessing  capillaries  to  convey 
the  blood  from  the  arterial  to  the  venous  system,  these  are  rep- 
resented in  structure  and  function  by  Lakelets,  or  what,  anato- 
mists call  sinuses,  into  which  the  arteries  flow,  and  from  which 
the  blood  is  taken  up  directly  by  veins  instead  of  by  intermediate 
capillaries. 

The  significance  of  these  differences  is  easil\T  to  be  gathered 
from  the  consideration  of  the  fact  that  the  blood,  according  to 
its  purity,  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  more  or  less  life-giving  stream, 
and  that  the  purer  and  more  disseminated  it  is  the  higher  the 
life  will  be.  When  the  blood  flows  out  of  the  left  side  of  the 
heart  into  the  aorta,  it  is  a  highly  oxygenated,  crimson  tide, 
bearing  its  life-giving  properties  to  every  part  of  the  organism 
through  the  minutest  capillaries.  As  it  returns  to  the  heart, 
after  a  tour,  which  on  the  average  lasts  twenty  seconds,  it  is 
laden  with  carbonic-acid  gas  and  other  effete  matters  represent- 
ing waste  of  the  body,  has  assumed  a  dulled  look  evidencing  the 
fact  of  their  pi'esence,  and  requires  again  immediate  renovation 
by  a  return  through  the  heart  to  the  lungs. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

COSMETIC   TREATMENT   AND   COSMETIC   ARTICLES. 

THE  matter  immediately  following  is  a  list  of  a  few  of  the 
most  elegant  toilet  preparations.  It  will  be  remembered, 
from  what  we  have  previously  said,  that  we  do  not  recommend 
hair-dyeing  and  similar  practices,  bnt,  on  the  contrary,  disap- 
prove of  them.  Delicate  powders,  however,  sometimes  subserve 
excellent  purposes  in  soothing  inflamed  surfaces  of  the  skin,  and 
no  one  can  object  to  the  refreshing  employment  of  the  finer 
perfumes.  What  we  reprobate  is  the  attempt,  for  it  is  but  an 
attempt,  to  counterfeit  beauty  by  artificial  means. 

Among  the  most  delicate  soaps  of  the  world  are  Couclray's 
lettuce-juice  soap,  Brecknell's  yellow-skin  soap,  Piver's  savonau 
lait  cTTWs,  Bailey's  spermaceti  tablet-soap,  Pinaud's  Opopanax 
soap,  Rieger's  transparent  soap,  Sarg's  violet  liquid  soap,  and  the 
pate  dulcifiee  de  la  Societe  Hygienique. 

Pure  powders  are  Lubin's  violet  and  rose  powders,  Pinaud's 
millefleurs  powder,  Chardin's  marechale  powder,  Piesse  and 
Lubin's  pistachio-nut  powder,  Ruimmel's  ylang-ylang  powder, 
Piver's  rose-blayiche  powder,  and  Low's  rose-leaf  powder. 

Delicate  preparations  for  the  hair  are,  Savage's  ursina,  or 
bears'  grease,  philocome  oil,  Couclray's  pomades,  Pinaud's  eau 
de  quinine,  and  Dupuytren's  astringent  pomade. 

Good  toilet-waters  are  Farina  cologne,  eau  de  violette,  eau 
de  Kananga,  eau  de  lavande,  lait  d'lris,  eau  des  Mandarins. 

Good  stick-ponlades  are  Lubin's  violet  pomade  and  Cou- 
dray's  " fixateur." 

Brilliantine  gives  a  peculiar  softness  and  lustre  to  the  hair. 

The  best  thing  to  fix  the  moustache  in  place  is  either  Lubin's 
or   Coudray's  pate  hongroise.     Good   shaving   compounds  are 

26  (401) 


402  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

Pinaud's  crime  (UAmbroise,  euxesis  in  tubes, the  old  Neapolitan 
soap,  and  the  savon  pour  la  barbe,  manufactured  by  the  Societe' 
Hygienique. 

If  any  one  should  take  a  fancy  to  try  to  make  colognes 
or  other  preparations,  the  following  recipes  will  afford  some 
knowledge  of  the  best  compounds  used  : — 

FARINA   COLOGNE. 

Oil  of  ncroli, 1  drachm. 

Oil  of  lemon, 4  drachms. 

Oil  of  lavender, %  drachm. 

Deodorized  spirit, 14  ounces. 

Rose-water,  sufficient  t<>  bring  the  mixture  up  to  1  pint. 
Macerate  in  a  wooden  vessel  for  the  space  of  three  mouths. 

BANDOLINE. 

Gum  tragacanth, '.        .    1}.£  drachms. 

Water, 7     ounces. 

Proof  spirit, 3  " 

Otto  of  rose, 10      drops. 

Macerate  for  one  day,  and  strain  the  mixture. 

The  following  recipe  for  cologne  was  awarded  the  prize  by 
the  Chemist  and  Druggist,  two  hundred  and  nineteen  persons 
competing: — 

EAU   DE   COLOGNE. 

Oil  of  bergamot, 2  drachms. 

Oil  of  lemon, 1  drachm. 

Oil  of  neroli, 20  drops. 

Oil  of  origanum, 6     " 

Oil  of  rosemary,      . 20     " 

Alcohol,  triple-distilled, 1  pint. 

Orange-flower  water, 1  ounce. 

These  were  by  British  weights  and  measures,  but  it  would 
not  make  much  difference  if  American  were  used. 

The  following  is  an  elegant  preparation  for  the  skin  and 
lips  : — 

JELLY  OF  ROSES. 

Finest  Russian  isinglass, jounce. 

Glycerin, 2  ounces. 

Rose-water, 6      " 

Oil  of  roses, 10  drops. 

This  preparation  is  usually  kept  in  flexible  metallic  tubes,  and  squeezed  out 
in  small  quantities  as  used. 


COSMETTC   TREATMENT    AND   COSMETIC    ARTin,KK.  403 

This  is  a  mixture  of  spices  and  flowers,  dried,  but  not 
ground  : — 

JAPANESE   POT-POURKI. 

Lavender-flowers, 1  pound. 

Rose-leaves, 1       " 

Ground  orris-root, 14       ll 

Crushed  cloves, 2  ounces. 

Crushed  cinnamon, 2       " 

Crushed  allspice, 2      " 

Table-salt, 1  pound. 

Keep  in  well-sealed  jars  until  ready  to  use  it. 

At  any  first-class  pharmacist's  the  following  preparations 
can  always  be  procured :  Cold-cream  of  roses,  cucumber-cream, 
and  rose  lip-salve. 

The  three  following  preparations  are  for  the  removal  of 
dandruff: — 

Boracic  acid,  . 2  drachms. 

Cologne, -5  ounces. 

Every  other  night  rub  into  the  scalp  with  a  sponge. 

Green  soap, 4  ounces. 

Use  from  1  to  3  teaspoonfuls  of  the  above  soap  to  %  cupful  of  warm  water, 
and  rub  the  mixture  into  the  scalp  once  or  twice  a  week,  being  careful  to  wash 
the  scalp  thoroughly  immediately  afterward  with  warm  water.  Finally,  rub  the 
scalp  with  a  rough,  dry,  warm  towel. 

Corrosive  sublimate, 10  grains. 

Cologne,  . 5  ounces. 

Rub  well  into  the  scalp  every  night. 

The  following  statement  of  fact  is  about  all  that  is  neces- 
sary in  connection  with  bleaching  the  hair,  that  the  only  safe 
preparation  for  the  process  is  peroxide  of  hydrogen.  Perhaps 
we  ought  to  repeat  what  we  said  in  the  bod}*  of  this  work,  that 
it  produces  a  most  unnatural  appearance  of  the  hair. 

The  following  recipe  for  hair-dye  is  that  of  Twiggs,  of 
Mexican  War  fame,  celebrated  because  he  perhaps  invented  as 
well  as  used  it : — 

Precipitated  sulphur, 1  drachm. 

Acetate  of  lead, 1       " 

Rose-water, 4  ounces. 

Apply  twice  a  day  until  the  desired  depth  of  shade  is  obtained. 


404  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

The  following  bair-dye  requires  much  more  of  an  operation 
for  its  application  than  does  the  preceding  our.  First  of  all, 
the  hair  must  be  wet  with  the  following  solution,  and  then 
allowed  to  dry  before  the  second  one  is  applied  : — 

Sulphuret  of  potassium, 1}£  ounces. 

Solution  of  potassa, '.,  ounce, 

Pure  water, 8  ounces. 

The  hair,  as  we  said,  having  been  moistened  with  the 
preceding  solution,  the  following  one  is  then  applied  : — 

Nitrate  of  silver, 6  drachms. 

Pure  water, 8  ounces. 

As  this  is  liable  to  stain  the  hands,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  mention  that  the  marks  can  be  removed  with  hyposulphite 
of  sodium. 

Nitrate  of  silver  is  not  considered  a  safe  ingredient  for  a 
hair-dye;  so  we  here  acquit  our  conscience,  in  including  this 
recipe,  by  giving  at  the  same  time  to  the  reader  full  warning  of 
what  might  be  injurious.  It  would  be  fatuous  for  us  to  pretend 
that  we  can  debar  persons  from  using  hair-dye  if  they  have  a 
mind  to  do  so,  and  therefore  we  make  no  such  pretense.  We 
state  explicitly,  and  have  tried  to  demonstrate  in  the  body  of  this 
work,  the  folly  of  using  all  such  devices.  Beyond  that,  and  such 
additional  warning  as  we  have  just  given,  our  duty  does  not  lie. 

The  two  following  recipes  are  for  preparations  for  refining 
and  imparting  lustre  to  the  surface  of  the  nails  : — 

Ointment  of  oleate  of  zinc, 2  drachms. 

Apply  with  friction  to  the  surface  of  the  nails,  and  rub  in  well  at  their  base. 

Ointment  of  oleate  of  mercury,     ....     2  drachms. 

Lanolin, 2       u 

Rub  well  over  the  nails  and  into  the  ba6e. 

Having  given  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  the  names  of 
such  powders  as  can  be  purchased,  we  here  add  some  original 
recipes  for  face  treatment,  that  can  be  made  up  in  the  household. 


COSMETIC   TREATMENT    AND   COSMETIC   ARTICLES.  405 

The   first   two   are   not   for  powders,  but  for  lotions,  for 
greasy,  shiny,  and  rough  skin  of  the'  face  : — 

Corrosive  6ublimate, 8  grains. 

Glycerin, 2  ounces. 

Distilled  witch-hazel,     .        ,        .        .        .         .     2      " 
Apply  to  the  skin  with  a  sponge,  or  a  piece  of  soft,  old  muslin. 

Boric  acid,      .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .1  drachm. 

Distilled  witch-hazel, 4  ounces. 

Apply  to  6kin  with  piece  of  old  muslin,  or  with  piece  of  absorbent  cotton. 

The  three  following  recipes  are  for  face-powders  : — 

Powdered  oleate  of  zinc, ]/2  ounce. 

Powdered  arrow-root, 1  " 

Oil  of  bergamot  or  of  roses, 3  drops. 

Dust  over  the  skin. 

Very  fine  prepared  chalk, 1  ounce. 

Subnitrate  of  bismuth,  .        .        .        .        .        .     1      " 

Oil  of  roses, 2  drops. 

Dust  over  the  surface.     This  powder  is  especially  adapted  for  a  greasy, 
shiny,  rough,  or  red  condition  of  the  skin. 

Impure  carbonate  of  zinc,  finely  pulverized,         .  •  1  ounce. 

Carbonate  of  magnesium, 1      " 

Oil  of  verbena, 5  drops. 

This  makes  an  elegant  toilet-powder  of  a  slightly  pinkish  hue.     Dust  it 
lightly  over  the  skin. 

The  three  following  recipes  have  just  reached  us  through 

the  Druggists'  Circular  and  Chemical  Gazette  for  Maj^,  1890  : — 

TEA  HAIR-TONIC. 

Bay-rum, 2  ounces. 

Glycerin,         ........    2     " 

Alcohol, .    2      " 

Infusion  of  black  tea, 10      " 

Mix  and  perfume  to  suit.     The  tea  infusion  should  be  made  very  strong, 

say  1  ounce  of  tea  (best  quality)  to  10  ounces  of  boiling  water  ;  let  stand  till  cool, 

strain,  and  add  the  other  ingredients. 

TOILET-VINEGAK. 

Essence  of  bergamot, 20  minims. 

Essence  of  ambergris, 4  drachms. 

Essence  of  vanilla, 30  minims. 

Oilofneroli, 30      " 

Acetic  acid  (strong), 160      " 

Alcohol, 6  ounces. 

(A  minim  is  the  sixtieth  part  of  a  fluidrachm.) 


406  HEREDITY,   HEALTH,    AND    PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

STKAWHEUUY    POMADE. 

Bnet 15  ounces. 

Lard, 2.5     " 

( lacao-butter 40     ;' 

Frrsii  strawberries, 18     " 

Otto  of  roses 2  drops. 

Oil  of  neroU 2    " 

Mell  the  Fate  in  a  water-bath,  and  Introduce  the  fresh  strawberries.  The 
temperature  must  be  kepi  very  low,  only  high  enough  to  keep  the  mass  liquid, 
otherwise  the  strawberry  aroma  will  be  lost.  After  digestion  (that  is,  soaking) 
for  several  hours,  Btrain  and,  When  nearly  cool,  add  the  essential  oils. 

We  extract  the  three  following  recipes  for  almond-meal 
from  the  Pharmaceutical  Era  of  May,  1890  : — 

1.  Ground  almonds, 1  pound. 

Wheat-flour, 1     " 

Powdered  orris-root, X      " 

Oil  of  lemon, %  ounce. 

Oil  of  bitter  almonds, \£  drachm. 

2.  Powdered  almonds, 1  pound. 

White  castile-soap  (dry  and  powdered),        .         .  %      " 

Powdered  orris-root, 2  ounces. 

Finely-powdered  pumice-stone,      .        .        .        .    6      " 

Oil  of  bitter  almonds, 2  drachms. 

3.  Blanched  sweet  almonds, 18  ounces. 

Ripe  and  dry  beans, 18      " 

Orris-root, 8     " 

White  castile-soap  (powdered),     .        .         .         .    6      " 

Spermaceti, 1%  " 

Dried  carbonate  of  6oda, 1  ounce. 

Oil  of  bergamot,     .......     6  drachms. 

Oil  of  lavender, 6        " 

Oil  of  lemon, 6         " 

Beat  to  a  fine  powder,  and  keep  from  the  air.  Use,  with  a  little  water,  to 
cleanse,  whiten,  and  soften  the  hands,  instead  of  soap. 

The  following  are  five  different  ways  of  making  Florida 
water,  which,  as  well  as  the  succeeding  four  making  Brilliantine, 
are  taken  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Era  of  May,  1890  : — ■ 

1.   Oil  of  lavender, 2  ounces. 

Oil  of  lemon, 1  ounce. 

Oil  of  orange-peel, 1      " 

Oil  of  cloves, 5  drachms. 

Deodorized  alcohol, 1  gallon. 


COSMETIC   TREATMENT   AND   COSMETIC   ARTICLES.  407 

2.  Oil  of  bergamot, 5  ounces. 

Oil  of  lemon,.         .        .        .        .        .        .        .  3       " 

Oil  of  orange-peel, 2       " 

Oil  of  lavender, 3>£   " 

Oil  of  cloves, y2  ounce. 

Oil  of  cinnamon, 14" 

Oil  of  neroli, %     " 

Alcohol, 4  gallons. 

Water, 1  gallon. 

3.  Oil  of  lavender, 2  drachms. 

Oil  of  bergamot, 2        " 

Oil  of  lemon, ■   •.        .        .2        " 

Oil  of  neroli, 1  drachm. 

Tincture  of  turmeric, 1        " 

Oil  of  balm, 30  drops. 

Otto  of  roses, 10      " 

Rectified  spirits, 2  pints. 

4.  Oil  of  lavender, 4  ounces. 

Oil  of  bergamot, 4      " 

Oil  of  neroli, 2  drachms. 

Oil  of  orange,         .•    ■ 4        " 

Oil  of  cloves, .  1  drachm. 

Pure  musk, 4  grains. 

Cologne  spirits, 1  gallon. 

Tincture  of  tonka,  sufficient  to  color. 
Macerate  fifteen  days,  and  filter  through  filtering-paper. 

5.  Oil  of  bergamot, 8  ounces. 

Oil  of  orange,         .        .        .        .        -.        .        .     4      " 

Best  oil  of  lavender, 3      " 

Oil  of  cloves, iy2  " 

True  oil  of  cinnamon,    ......%  ounce. 

Tincture  of  orris, %  pint. 

Tincture  of  Peru  balsam,       .        .        .        .  %    " 

Alcohol, .4  gallons. 

Water, 6  pints. 

Mix,  and  allow  to  stand  several  days  before  filtering  and  bottling. 

BRILLIANTINE. 

1.  Honey, .        .        .    1  ounce. 

Glycerin M      " 

Cologne, .  y2      " 

Alcohol, .        .        .2  ounces. 

2.  Finest  virgin  olive-oil, 2  ounces. 

Any  toilet-water,  or  Parrish's  cologne,  .         .        .1  ounce. 


408  HKKEDITY,    HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

3.  Gum  benzoin, i ._,  ounce. 

Alcohol,         ........    8  ounces. 

Dissolve  and  filter.    Add — 

Castor-oil, 4      " 

Oil  of  geranium, 1  drachm. 

Oil  iif  bergamot,    .......  1       " 

4.  Veal-fat, .........     4  ounces. 

Spermaceti, 2      " 

Castor-oil, 2      " 

Oil  of  bitter  almonds, %  drachm. 

Oil  of  cloves 1      " 

Oil  of  bergamot, 2  drachms. 

Mi  It  together,  adding  the  perfume  when  nearly  cold. 

We  are  pleased  to  see  at  last  a  protest  against  the  severity 
of  what  is  called  "a  close  shave."  In  making  a  close  shave,  the 
barber  keeps  his  fingers  moist  at  the  finishing  touches  of  the 
operation,  and,  with  the  forefinger  and  the  middle  finger  spread 
slightly  apart,  presses  the  skin  both  downward  and  outward,  with 
the  effect  of  actually  making  the  lower  part  of  the  hair-shaft 
unduly  project  beyond  its  follicle.  It  is  not  the  hair  alone  that 
is  moved,  but  the  little  trumpet-mouthed  follicle  in  which  it 
grows  is  pressed  downward  over  the  hair,  so  as  to  cause  it  to 
protrude.  The  hair  is  thus,  as  it  were,  squeezed  out  of  its  fol- 
licle. Some  one,  it  seems,  as  narrated  in  the  Medical  Classics, 
has  had  the  curiosity  to  examine  through  the  microscope  the 
skin  of  a  face  after  it  had  been  closely  shaven.  He  describes 
the  cost  at  which  one  thus  gets  a  very  smooth  face,  as  the 
removal  of  a  thin  layer  of  the  cuticle,  the  laceration  of  the  tiny 
blood-vessels  at  the  orifice  of  the  follicles,  the  exposure  of  the 
tips  of  the  nerves  there,  and  the  rendering  of  the  skin,  as  it 
appears  under  the  microscope,  like  a  piece  of  raw  beef, — tender, 
unhealthy,  and  to  so  great  a  degree  susceptible  as  to  be  provo- 
cative of  colds,  hoarseness,  and  sore  throat. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

LIST    OF    MEDICATED    SOAPS. 

THE  following  soaps  are  used  for  many  more  pnrposes  than 
those  herein  mentioned  in  connection  with  them.  It  would 
be  useless  to  mention,  for  the  information  of  the  general  reader, 
such  applications  of  them  as  relate  to  diseases  which  invariably 
require  the  advice  of  a  physician.  Therefore,  only  such  applica- 
tions are  included  as  come  within  the  possibilities  of  popular 
treatment : — 

Alum  Soap,  used  in  greasy  seborrhoea,  pustular  eczema,  etc. 

Amber  Soap,  used  for  enlarged  glands,  moles,  warts,  etc. 

Arnica  Soap,  used  for    abrasions,   wounds,  bruises,  boils,  carbuncles,  sore 

nipples,  etc. 
Balsam  Soap,  used  in  indolent  ulcers,  etc. 
Boro-Gltceride  Soap,  used  for  cleansing  wounds  and  ulcers,  and  in  allaying 

inflammation,  etc. 
Camphor  Soap,  frequently  used  for  pruritus,  accompanying  eczema,  chilblains, 

etc. 
Carbolic-Acid  Soap,  used  in  chronic  eczema,  etc. 
Chamomile  Soap,  used  for  chafed  surfaces,  for  seborrhoea,  for  excessive  secretion 

of  the  skin,  and  foul-smelling  sores. 
Chamomile  and  Sulphur  Soap,  used  in  dry  seborrhoea,  loss  of  hair,  etc. 
Elder-Flower  Soap,  used  for  sunburn,  etc. 
Ergot  Soap,  used  in  eczema,  etc. 
Eucaltptol  Soap,  used  for  foul-smelling  wounds  and  ulcers,  and  also  for  fetid 

perspiration . 
Glycerin  Soap,  used  for  roughness  of  the  skin,  chapping,  etc. 
Iodine  Soap,  used  in  scrofulous  skin  affections,  etc. 
Iodide  of  Sulphur  Soap,  used  for  chronic  ulcers,  yellowish-brown  or  blackish 

patches  on  the  skin,  freckles,  etc. 
Kino  Soap,  used  for  eczema,  ulcers,  etc. 

Lead  Soap,  used  for  boils,  carbuncles,  abrasions  of  the  skin,  bed-sores,  etc. 
Naphthol-Sulphur  Soap,  used  for  itch,  lousiness,  bites  of  insects,  eczema, 

seborrhoea,  and  fetid  perspiration. 
Naphthol  Soap,  used  for  fetid  perspiration,  and  in  eczema,  and  for  the  bites  of 

insects. 
Salicylic- Acid  Soap,  used  in  thickening  of  the  skin  on  the  palms  of  the  hands 

and  soles  of  the  feet,  for  pustular  eczema,  fetid  perspiration ,  foul  wounds  or 

sores,  and  for  toilet  purposes. 

(409) 


410  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL    BEAUTY. 

Si  iu.imate  Soap,  used  in  animal  parasitic  diseases,  for  freckles,  pigmentary 
spots  on  the  skin,  and  effective  in  relieving  itching  <>f  the  skin. 

Sii.i'iin;  Soap,  used  In  rosacea,  etc. 

Tannih  Soap,  need  for  ulcers,  for  excessive  perspiration,  oily  seborrhoea,  etc. 

Tannin-Balsam   Soap,  used  for  wounds,  ulcers,  chilblains,  etc. 

Tab  Soap,  used  in  chronic  eczema,  etc. 

Thymol  Soap,  used  for  ulcers,  wounds,  and  in  pustular  eczema,  etc. 

Turpentine  soap.  This  soap  is  Bometimes  known  under  the  name  of  Starkey's 
Soap.     It  is  used  for  chilblaiiiB,  etc. 

WlNTEBQBBBN   SoAP,  used  in  eezeina,  etc. 

Witoh-Hazbl  Soap,  used  in  eczema,  for  fetid  perspiration,  and  iu  loss  of  hair. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

HOUSEHOLD    REMEDIES. 
(Alphabetically  arranged.) 

BALDNESS. 

1.  Ointment  of  10-per-cent.  oleate  of  mercury,  .        .  H  ounce. 
Lanolin,  or  prepared  suet, K 

Rub  well  into  the  scalp. 

2.  Tincture  of  capsicum, 2  drachms. 

Water  of  ammonia, 1  ouuce- 

Pilocarpine  hydrochlorate, 5  grains. 

Cologne, Bounces. 

Use  on  the  scalp  twice  a  day. 

3.  Fluid  extract  of  pilocarpine,          ....    1  ounce. 
Soap  liniment, 3  ounces. 

Rub  thoroughly  into  the  scalp,  night  and  morning. 

BITES   OF   INSECTS   AND   ERUPTIONS. 

1.   Beta-naphthol, 1  drachm. 

Cologne, K  Pint- 
Apply  to  the  irritated  skin.    This  is  suitable  for  alleviating  the  smarting 
from  the  bites  of  any  kind  of  insects. 

2    Ointment  of  oleate  of  mercury,     ....    1  ounce. 

Camphor, •        •        •        •  10  Srains- 

Rub  well  into  the  skin. 

3.   Ipecacuanha, 1  °™ce- 

Alcohol, 

Apply  to  the  skin. 

BLACKHEADS   OF   THE   SKIN. 

1.  Boracic  acid, 1  drachm. 

Alcohol, 1  ounce. 

Rose-water, 2  ounces. 

Use  with  friction  twice  a  day  on  the  skin  affected. 

2.  Ether,      . 1  ounce- 

Soap  liniment, 

Upon  retiring  for  the  night,  rub  into  the  spots  affected,  and  in  the  morning 
wash  the  surface  with  hot  water. 

O11) 


412  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

BOILS. 

1.  Menthol, 10  grains. 

Extract  of  arnica, \i  drachm. 

Extract  of  belladonna, \i      " 

Ointment  nf  oxide  of  zinc, 1  ounce. 

Spread  the  ointment  on  a  piece  of  old  muslin,  and  keep  the  boil  constantly 
so  covered. 

2.  Ointment  of  subacetate  of  lead,    ....     3  drachms. 

Iodol, ><  drachm. 

Ointment  of  oxide  of  zinc, 3  drachms. 

Apply  to  the  surface. 

BUNIONS. 

Carbolic  acid, 2  drachms. 

Tincture  of  iodine,  . 2        " 

Glycerin, 2        " 

Apply  with  a  camel's  hair  pencil  every  day.  Copper  oleate  applied  in  the 
form  of  a  plaster  is  also  serviceable. 

BURNS. 

1.  Immerse  the  burned  part  in  cool  water,  and  afterward  paint  it  with  oil 
of  peppermint. 

2.  Boracic  acid, 2  drachms. 

Glycerin, 2  ounces. 

Olive-oil, 2      " 

Saturate  a  piece  of  old  muslin  or  a  piece  of  absorbent  cotton  with  the 
lotion,  and  use  it  on  the  painful  surface. 

BURNS   AND    SCALDS. 

1.  Bicarbonate  of  sodium, jounce. 

Subuitrate  of  bismuth, ]4      " 

Keep  the  surface  covered  with  the  powder. 

2.  Creasote, .        .        .  15  drops. 

Cocaine  hydrochlorate, 10  grains. 

Lime-water, y2  pint. 

Linseed-oil, "%    " 

Apply  constantly  to  the  skin  with  soft,  old  muslin,  or  cotton. 

3.  Solution  of  subacetate  of  lead,      ...         .4  ounces. 

Tincture  of  opium,  .......     2       " 

Distilled  witch-hazel, 2       " 

Apply  to  the  skin  with  a  piece  of  old  muslin. 

CARBUNCLE. 

1.  Take  2  ounces  of  bicarbonate  of  sodium.  Dust  it  over  the  carbuncle, 
and  allow  the  soda  to  remain  on  the  skin  until  it  becomes  covered  with  a  good 
many  little  openings.  Then  apply  a  poultice  to  the  part,  and  follow  that  with  a 
soothing  ointment. 


HOUSEHOLD  REMEDIES.  413 

2.   Compound  resin  ointment, 1  ounce. 

Atropine- sulphate,  .        ...        .        .         .    3  grains. 

Cocaine  hydroehlorate, 5      " 

Camphor, 10      " 

Apply  constantly  to  the  carbuncle. 

CHAPPED   AND   CRACKED   LIPS. 

1.  Borax, 34  drachm. 

Glycerin, 1  ounce. 

Rose-water, 1      " 

Moisten  the  lips  frequently  with  the  lotion. 

2.  Compound  tincture  of  benzoin,     ...         .1  ounce. 

"With  it  pencil  the  lips  once  or  twice  a  day,  following  the  operation  with  the 
application  of  a  little  cold-cream  or  suet. 

3.  Take  a  5-  or  10-per-cent.  solution  of  cocaine  hydroehlorate,  ordering 
about  y<t  ounce  of  the  apothecary.  Apply  it  to  the  surface  with  a  piece  of 
old  muslin,  or  with  a  piece  of  cotton. 

4.  Balsam  of  Peru, 1  drachm. 

Oil  of  peppermint, 2  drops. 

Ointment  of  rose-water, 1  ounce. 

Apply  to  the  lips  with  the  finger. 

5.  Hydroehlorate  of  cocaine, 5  grains. 

Suet,  or  unsalted  butter, y2  ounce. 

Use  on  the  lips  whenever  they  are  dry  or  irritated. 

CHAPPING   OF   THE   SKIN. 

1.  Powdered  oleate  of  zinc, 3  drachms. 

Subnitrate  of  bismuth, 3        " 

Lycopodium, 2        " 

Dust  over  the  surface. 

2.  Calomel, 10  grains. 

Carbonate  of  zinc,  .        .        .        .  .1  drachm. 

Oil  of  eucalyptus, 5  drops. 

Ointment  of  rose-water, 1  ounce. 

Apply  to  the  skin. 

CHAPS  AND  ROUGH  SKIN  OF  THE  HANDS. 

1.  Unsalted  butter, 1  ounce. 

Acetate  of  lead, .30  grains. 

Carbolic  acid, 5      " 

Apply  night  and  morning. 

2.  Glycerin, 1  ounce. 

Lime-water, %      t( 

Rub  in  several  times  a  day. 


414  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,    \M>    PERSONAL  BEAUTY. 

3.  Benzoated-sino  ointment 1  ounce. 

Camphor,        ........  5  grains. 

Subnitrate  of  bismuth '.J  drachm. 

RoBe-water  ointment jounce. 

Kuh  in  well,  night  and  morning.  It  will  BOften  and  whiten  the  skin,  whTle 
removing  the  roughness. 

4.  Snot,  or  lanolin, 1  ounce. 

Camphor, 20  grains. 

Glycerin, %  ounce. 

Melt  the  Ingredients  together,  then  pour  the  mixture  into  some  vessel,  and 
allow  it  tii  cool.  Soften  a  lump  of  the  salve  in  the  palm  of  the  hand,  and  rub  it 
well  into  the  -kin  before  retiring  at  eight. 

CHAPS    OR    CRACKS    AT   THE   CORNERS   OF  TnE   MOUTH. 

1 .  Take  a  50-per-cent.  solution  of  boro-glyceride,  and  apply  it  several  times 
a  day  to  the  irritated  surface. 

2.  Hyposulphite  of  soda, }i  drachm. 

Ointment  of  rose-water, 2  drachms. 

Ointment  of  oxide  of  zinc, 2        " 

Apply  frequently  to  the  surface. 

CRACKS   AND    IRRITATION    AROUND    THE   NOSE. 

1.  Sublimed  sulphur, 20  grains. 

Camphor, 5      " 

Ointment  of  oxide  of  zinc, 1  ounce. 

Apply  to  the  irritated  surface. 

2.  Cerate  of  subacetate  of  lead,  ...         .2  drachms. 

Cocaine  hydrochlorate, 3  grains. 

Prepared  suet,  or  lanolin, 2  drachms. 

Apply  to  the  irritated  surface. 

3.  Distilled  witch-hazel, 1  ounce. 

Camphor-water,       .        .        .        .        .        .        .     1      " 

Mop  often  over  the  surface. 

CRACKS   OK   FISSURES  OF  THE   SKIN. 

Glycerin, 3  ounces. 

Tannic  acid, 5  drachms. 

Rose-water, 2  ounces. 

Apply  with  a  piece  of  absorbent  cotton. 

CRACKS   OR    IRRITATION   INSIDE  OF  THE   NOSE. 

1.   Ointment  of  oleate  of  zinc, jounce. 

Apply  with  the  end  of  the  finger,  or  with  a  camel's  hair  pencil.  The  pow- 
dered oleate  of  zinc  blown  up  the  nostrils  with  a  quill  is  also  beneficial. 


HOUSEHOLD  REMEDIES.  415 

2.   Glycerin, 1  ounce. 

Rose-water, 1      " 

Borax,  or  tannic  acid, 15  grains. 

Apply  to  the  irritated  surface  several  times  a  day  with  a  piece  of  cotton,  or 
with  a  camel's  hair  pencil. 

CORNS   OR   BUNIONS. 

1.  Extract  of  cannabis-indica, %  drachm. 

Salicylic  acid, .1      " 

Collodion , 4  drachms. 

Pencil  over  the  corn  or  bunion  every  night  and  morning. 

2.  Chrysarobin, 34  drachm. 

Cocaine  hydrochlorate,  .        .         .        .         .         .  10  grains. 

Gutta-percha, 34  drachm. 

Chloroform, 5  drachms. 

Pencil  every  night  over  the  corn  or  bunion. 

DYSPEPSIA. 

We  are  loth  to  prescribe  the  chewing  of  gum  for  dyspepsia,  so  vulgar  is  the 
habit  of  chewing  it  for  pleasure.  It  is  our  duty,  however,  to  state  that  it  is  use- 
ful in  dyspepsia.  It  stimulates  the  flow  of  the  salivary  and  gastric  fluids,  and 
thus  somewhat  assists  digestion. 

FALLING  OF   THE  HAIR. 

1.  Distilled  witch-hazel, 5  ounces. 

Corrosive  sublimate, 10  grains. 

Use  on  the  scalp  twice  a  day. 

2.  Tincture  of  nux  vomica, 1  ounce. 

Spirits  of  rosemary, 2  ounces. 

Alcohol, .         .    2      " 

Apply  several  times  a  day. 

3.  Oleic  acid, 2  ounces. 

Spirits  of  lavender, 2  drachms. 

Cologne, .        .        . 2  ounces. 

Apply  to  the  scalp. 

FEVER-BLISTERS. 

1.  Camphor, 5  grains. 

Powdered  arrow-root, 34  drachm. 

Subnitrate  of  bismuth, 34      " 

Ointment  of  rose-water, 34  ounce. 

Apply  frequently  to  the  lips. 

2.  Glycerin, 1  ounce. 

Distilled  witch-hazel, 1      " 

Apply  frequently,  using  old  muslin,  or  cotton. 


410  HEREDITY.    HEALTH,    AND    PERSONA],    BEAUTY. 

•  "•.    Carbolic  acid, 5  drops. 

Suet,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .1^,  ounce. 

Place  the  Ingredients  in  a  pan,  and  mix  while  beating  them.  Frequently 
apply  the  mixture,  «  hen  cool,  to  the  lips. 

PBBOKLBS    AM'    ii'm.'.w    DISOOLOBATION8   OP  THE  SKIN. 

1.  Corrosive  sublimate, 10  prains. 

Distilled  witch-hazel, 2  ounces. 

Rose-water 2      " 

Mop  over  the  spots. 

2.  Oleate  of  copper 10  to  20  grains. 

Ointment  of  oxide  of  zinc, }£  ounce. 

Rub  into  the  spots,  niirht  and  morning. 

3.  Boraeic  acid, 1  drachm. 

Ointment  of  rose-water, ]4  ounce. 

Use  on  tbe  spots  twice  a  day. 

FROST-BITE. 

1.  Ointment  of  oleate  of  lead, %  ounce. 

Hydrochloratc  of  cocaine, 10  grains. 

Use  externally  on  the  parts  affected. 

2.  Compound  tincture  of  benzoin,     ....     3  drachms. 
Tincture  of  aconite-root, 1  drachm. 

Apply  externally  to  the  parts  affected. 

3.  Salicylic  acid, }i  drachm. 

Sulphate  of  atropine, 5  grains. 

Collodion, 4  drachms. 

Apply  with  a  camel's  hair  brush. 

HAZELINE    CREAM. 

Special  mention  should  be  made  of  a  preparation  which  is  in  some  vogue 
in  London,  and  which  is  better  than  cold-cream  for  many  applications.  This  is 
hazellne  cream,  compounded  from  the  green  twigs  and  leaves  of  the  witch-hazel 
(Hamamelis  Virrfinica).  It  combines  the  astringent  and  stimulant  properties  of 
these  with  the  fatty,  emollient  base  of  lanolin.  As  manufactured  by  Bur- 
roughs, Wellcome  &  Co.,  of  London,  each  pound  of  the  ointment  contains  5  fluid- 
ounces  of  hazeline  with  11  ounces,  by  weight,  of  lanolin. 

It  affords  a  soothing  ointment  in  all  eases  of  irritation  of  the  skin,  and  has 
one  great  advantage  over  cold-crearn,  in  its  insusceptibility  to  become  rapidly 
rancid,  which  circumstance  so  frequently  renders  cold-cream  injurious  instead  of 
beneficial.  It  has  consequently  proved  to  be  a  very  effective  application  in 
hemorrhoids,  pruritus  aid,  etc.,  where  the  heat  of  the  parts  is  certain  to  cause 
ordinary  unguents  rapidly  to  degenerate  when  in  contact  with  them.  Other 
medicaments,  as  the  case  may  require,  are  sometimes  added  to  the  hazeline  cream. 
It  is  sometimes  applied  to  the  rectum  by  means  of  Ward  Cousins  or  Allingham's 
ointment-injectors,  and  by  means  of  collapsible  tubes  with  nozzle  attachment  for 
injection. 


HOUSEHOLD    REMEDIES.  417 

INFLAMED   OR    BOUGH    SKIN*. 

1.  Subnitrate  of  bitorrath, 1  drachm. 

Powdered  arrow-root,      ......     1 

Ointment  of  benzoatcd  oxide  of  zinc,    .        .         .1  ounce. 
Apply  once  or  twice  a  day. 

2.  Boracic  acid, 1  drachm. 

Distilled  witch-hazel, 2  ounces. 

Rose-water, 2      " 

Use  externally. 

ITCHING    AROUND    THE    BOWEL. 

Camphor, 1  drachm. 

Cocaine,  .        . .10  grains. 

Lanolin, 3  drachma. 

Ointment  of  benzoated  oxide  of  zinc,    .         .         .3         " 
Rub  in  well,  whenever  troubled  with  irritation  and  itching. 

ITCHING   OF   THE   SKIN. 

1.  Alum, 1  ounce. 

Borax, 1      " 

Add  1  pint  of  hot  water  to  these,  and  spouge  the  mixture  over  the  skin. 

2.  Carbolic  acid, y,  drachm. 

Distilled  witch-hazel, %  pint. 

Apply  to  the  skin.  f 

LANOLIN    COLD-CREAM,  POMADE,  AND    SOAP. 

Lanolin,  the  fatty  matter  similar  to  that  of  the  human  skin,  is  employed 
for  pomade,  for  cold-cream,  and  for  soap.  It  is  put  up  by  Burroughs,  Wellcome 
&  Co.,  of  London,  a  toilet  kind  in  collapsible  tubes,  with  a  nozzle.  As  a  soap  it 
is  manufactured  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  neutral  and  possess  an  excess  of  fat. 
Ichthyol  and  eucalyptus  soaps,  containing  a  certain  amount  of  the  special 
medicament,  are  manufactured  by  the  same  firm  upon  the  basis  of  the  above 
qualities. 

LAXATIVE   FOR   CHILDREN. 

Manna — in  tears, 50  parts. 

Calcined  magnesia,         ......     10 

Washed  sulphur, 10     " 

White  flour, 20     " 

To  be  made  into  an  electuary  (that  is,  prepared  with  something  that  will 
make  it  palatable).  A  teaspoonful  or  more  may  be  given  in  a  cup  of  weak  tea  or 
hot  milk.     This  is  a  French  recipe. 

MOISTURE   OF   THE   HANDS. 

1.   Oleate  of  zinc, 1  drachm. 

Subnitrate  of  bismuth, 2  drachms. 

Beta-naphthol, 10  grains. 

,  Dust  frequently  over  the  surface. 

27 


418  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND  PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

2.  Salicylic  acid, 1  drachm. 

Impure  carbonate  of  zinc,     .        .        .        •    #  •    1  ouuce. 

Dust  over  the  surface 

3.  Chromic  acid, 5  grains. 

Distilled  witch-hazel, jounce. 

Especially  useful  for  moist,  clammy  hands.  Drop  over  the  surface  several 
times  a  day. 

The  four  following  recipes  are  for  mouth-washes : — 

1.  Distilled  witch-hazel, 3  ounces. 

Chlorate  of  potassium, 1  drachm. 

This  can  he  used  as  a  wash  for  a  sore  mouth,  or  as  a  gargle  for  a  sore  throat. 
Employ  it  of  the  full  strength. 

2.  Tincture  of  chloride  of  iron,          ....  34  ounce. 
Glycerin %      " 

The  above  is  useful  forsores  on  lips,  tongue,  mouth,  or  throat — canker-sores. 
Touch  the  sore  spots  twice  a  day  with  a  camel's  hair  pencil,  or  a  piece  of  cotton, 
dipped  in  the  solution. 

3.  Compound  tincture  of  cinchona,    .         ...    4  ounces. 
Glycerin, 2      " 

The  above  is  useful  for  sore  mouth,  irritable  or  sore  gums,  and  for  6ore 
throat.  Add  one  or  two  t'easpoonfuls  to  the  same  quantity  of  water,  and  rinse 
out  the  mouth  and  gargle  the  throat  with  it. 

4.  Tincture  of  kino, .2  ounces. 

Borax, 1  drachm. 

For  soreness  or  inflammation  of  the  mouth  or  throat,  wash  out  the  mouth, 
or  gargle  with  the  mixture. 

NETTLE-RASH    (HIVES). 

1.  Carbolic  acid, 1  drachm. 

Water, 1  pint. 

Drop  over  the  irritated  skin. 

2.  Boracic  acid, 2  drachms. 

Ointment  of  rose-water, \i  ounce. 

Ointment  of  oxide  of  zinc, ]/2      " 

Apply  to  the  irritated  skin. 

PAIN    OR    IRRITATION    OF   THE   SKIN. 

Cocaine, .  10  grains. 

Sulphate  of  atropine, 1  grain. 

Distilled  witch-hazel, 4  ounces. 

Apply  with  a  piece  of  old  muslin  over  the  surface. 


HOUSEHOLD   REMEDIES.  419 

PERSPIRATION    (EXCESSIVE). 

1.  Subnitrate  of  bismuth, 24  ounce. 

Powdered  oleate  of  lead-zinc,         '.        .        .         •  X       " 

Dust  frequently  over  the  perspiring  skin. 

2.  Beta-napbthol, 20  grains. 

Salicylic  acid, 1  drachm. 

Powdered  impure  carbonate  of  zinc,     .         .         .2  ounces. 

Dust  over  the  parts. 

3.  Hydrastin  hydrochlorate, 5  grains. 

Cologne, 4  ounces. 

Apply  frequently  to  the  surface. 

PERSPIRATION    (EXCESSIVE   OR  ODOROUS.) 

Oleate  of  zinc, K  ounce. 

Powdered  starch, 1 

Salicylic  acid,  .         .        .        .        .        .        .1  scruple. 

Dust  over  the  parts. 

PERSPIRATION    (ODOROUS). 

1.  Beta-naphthol, y2  drachm. 

Distilled  witch-hazel, 4  ounces. 

Apply  well  to  the  skin. 

2.  Powdered  oleate  of  zinc,         .        .         .        .        •  K  ounce. 
Powdered  boracic  acid, 3  drachms. 

Keep  the  surface  constantly  covered  with  the  powder. 

PIGMENTED,    OR    DISCOLORED,    SPOTS   OF   THE    SKIN. 

Use  mercurial  plaster,,  or  take  expert  treatment  with  the  galvanic  current. 

The  following  recipe  comes  highly  recommended.     It  is  for 

the  removal  of  the  pigment-spots  that  sometimes  appear  during 

pregnane}' : — 

Cacao-butter, .        .        .        .  .        .        .    2},^  ounces. 

Castor-oil,        .         .        .        .        .  .         .     2%      " 

Zinc  oxide, 45  grains. 

Ammoniated  mercury,    .        .        .        .        .        .     2      " 

Oil  of  roses,  sufficient  quantity. 

To  be  applied  morning  and  evening. 

PIMPLES. 

1.   Beta-naphthol, 5  grains. 

Oil  of  chamomile, 5  drops. 

Ointment  of  benzoated  oxide  of  zinc,   .        .         .1  ounce. 

Use  on  the  surface. 


4-JO  HEREDITY,    HEALTH,   AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

•J.  Ointment  of  oleate  <>f  zinc 1  ounce. 

Ointment  of  rose-water, 1      " 

Camphor, 10  grains. 

Apply  on  retiring  for  the  night. 

3.  Boracic  acid, 1  drachm. 

Distilled  witch-hazel, 2  ounces. 

Glycerin, 2     " 

Apply  externally. 

PLUGS   OR   GRUBS   OF  THE   SKIN. 

1.  Boracic  acid, %  drachm. 

Spirits  of  rosemary, 1  ounce. 

Water 3  ounces. 

'  Use  with  friction  on  the  skin. 

2.  Tincture  of  green  soap, 2oun 

Distilled  witch-hazel, 2     " 

Apply  the  mixture  every  other  da}-  to  the  skin,  and  wash  it  off  immediately 
with  hot  water. 

POISONING    FROM   IVY. 

1.  Impure  carbonate  of  zinc, 'jounce. 

Lime-water, 2  ounces. 

Glycerin, 2     " 

Apply  to  the  skin  with  a  piece  of  soft,  old  muslin. 

2.  Carbonate  of  lead, 2  drachms. 

Powdered  arrow-root, 2        " 

Powdered  g-um-acaeia, 1  drachm. 

Hvdrochlorate  of  cocaine, 10  grains. 

Olive-oil, 3  ounces. 

Spread  over  the  skin. 

PRICKLY    HEAT. 

1.  Lime-water, 4  ounces. 

Levigated  calamine, jounce. 

Shake  up  the  mixture  and  apply  it  to  the  skin. 

2.  Subnitrate  of  bismuth, jounce. 

Carbonate  of  zinc, M      " 

Dust  over  the  parts. 


ROUGn,   PIMPLY   NECK    AND    LIMBS 


1.   Sublimed  sulphur, 

Oil  of  eucalyptus,  .... 
Ointment  of  the  oxide  of  zinc, 
Ointment  of  rose-water, 
Use  once  a  day  on  the  skin.    Wash  off  the  parts  once  or  twice  a  week  with 
the  tincture  of  green  soap,  cleansing  them  with  hot  water,  after  which  renew  the 
application  of  the  above  ointment. 


1  drachm. 
5  drops. 

1   ounce. 

1    " 


HOUSEHOLD    REMEDIES. 


421 


2.   Beta-naphthol, 5  grains. 

Glycerin, 3  ounces. 

Cologne, 3     " 

Use  alone,  or  in  conjunction  with  soap  and  hot  water. 

SCARS. 

1.  Lanolin, 2  drachms. 

Ointment  of  biniodide  of  mercury,        .         .         .     1  drachm. 

Rub  in  well  once  a  day. 

2.  Iodide  of  potassium, 1  drachm. 

Ointment  of  nitrate  of  mercury,   .         .         .         .  %  ounce. 

Use  on  the  parts. 

►  3.   Borate  of  sodium , %  ounce. 

Salicylate  of  sodium, y2  drachm. 

Lanolin, 1  ounce. 

Keep  in  contact  with  the  scar  by  means  of  a  piece  of  lint,  or  else  rub  in 
well  with  moderate  friction,  night  and  morning. 

SORES   ON   LIPS,    MOUTH,   TONGUE,   OR   THROAT    (CANKER    SORES). 

Sulphate  of  zinc,     .         .         .        .  .         .40  grains. 

Rose-water,  or  pure  water, 1  ounce. 

Apply  every  other  day  to  the  spots  with  a  camel's  hair  brush  or  a  piece  of 
cotton.  Canker  sores  can  be  touched  to  advantage  every  day  or  two  with  burnt 
alum  or  a  piece  of  sulphate  of  copper. 

SUNBURN. 

1.  Carbonate  of  lead, 1  drachm. 

Powdered  arrow-root, 1      " 

Ointment  of  rose-water, 1  ounce. 

Olive-oil, 2  drachms. 

Apply  lightly  to  the  surface. 

2.  Sublimed  sulphur, y2  drachm. 

Carbonate  of  zinc, 1      " 

Ointment  of  oxide  of  zinc,     .  ...     1  ounce. 

Apply  lightly  to  the  surface. 

THICK   SKIN   ON   HANDS"  OR    FEET. 

1.   Salicylic  acid, y2  drachm. 

Ointment  of  oleate  of  lead, %  ounce. 

Spread  on  muslin  and  use  on  the  surface. 

•   2.  Boracic  acid, 1  drachm. 

Beta-naphthol, 20  grains. 

Lanolin,  or  prepared  suet,      .        .        .        .        .1  ounce. 
Apply  to  the  surface. 


422  HEREDITY,   HEALTH.    AND   PERSONAL   BEAUTY. 

TOOTHAOHB. 

1.  Cieaaote, 5  drops 

Tincture  of  opium, 10    " 

Place  in  the  cavity  of  the  tootli  a  piece  of  cotton  moistened  with  the 
mixture. 

2.  Cocaine  hydrochlorate, 2  grains. 

Morphine  Bulphate, )4  grain. 

Camphor, 1      " 

Place  in  the  cavity  of  the  tooth  a  piece  of  cotton  moistened  with  Che 
preparation. 

WARTS. 

1.  Solution  of  ethylate  of  sodium,     ....     2  drachms. 

Every  two  or  three  days  touch  the  wart  with  the  solution,  administered 
with  a  camel's  hair  pencil. 

2.  Chrysarobin, 40  grains. 

Collodion, *     .         .3  drachms. 

Apply  with  a  camel's  hair  pencil  every  day  or  two. 

WHITLOW — FELON. 

1.  Tincture  of  opium, 2  ounces. 

Lead-water, 2      " 

Use  on  the  part  a  piece  of  thin,  old  muslin,  keeping  the  surface  constantly 
wet  with  the  lotion.  The  part  sometimes  requires  lancing,  to  relieve  pain  and 
to  restore  it  to  healthy  action. 

2.  Ointment  of  compound  resin,        ....  jounce. 
Ointment  of  nitrate  of  mercury,    .         .        .        .  %      " 
Cocaine  hydrochlorate, 10  grains. 

Apply  before  or  after  making  a  free  incision  with  the  lancet.  Previously 
hot  poultices  are  frequently  applied  to  the  part.  Painting  it  with  iodine  is 
sometimes  practiced. 


CATALOGUE 


OF  THE 


Medical  Publications 


OF 


F.    A.    DAVIS, 


MEDICAL   PUBLISHER   AND    BOOKSELLER, 


1231  Filbert  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


BRANCH    OFFICES: 

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ORDER  FROM  NEAREST  OFFIOE. 


FOR  SALE  BY  ALL  BOOKSELLERS. 


Principles  of  Surgery^ 

By  N.  SENN,  M.D.,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Principles  of  Surgery  and 
Surgical  Pathology  in  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago,  111.;  Professor  of 
Surgery  in  the  Chicago  Polyclinic;  Attending  Surgeon  to  the  Milwaukee 
Hospital;  Consulting  Surgeon  to  the  Milwaukee  County  Hospital  and  to 
the  Milwaukee  County  Insane  Asylum. 

In  one  handsome  Eoyal  Octavo  volume,  with  10'.)  line  Wood-Engrav- 
ings and  624  pages. 

United  States.     Canada  (duly  paid;.  Great  Britain.  France. 

Price  in  Cloth,  $150  Net         $5.00  Net         24s.  61  27  fr.  20 

"       Sheep  or  i-Russia,      5.50   "  6.10   "  30s.  33  fr.  10 

This  work,  by  one  of  America's  greatest  surgeons,  is  thoroughly 
complete  ;  its  clearness  and  brevity  of  statement  are  among  its  con- 
spicuous merits.  The  author's  long,  able,  and  conscientious  researches 
in  every  direction  in  this  important  field  are  a  guarantee  of  unusual 
trustworthiness,  that  every  branch  of  the  subject  is  treated  authorita- 
tively and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  bring  the  greatest  gain  in  knowledge 
to  the  Practitioner  and  Student.  It  has  already  been  placed  on  the  list 
of  Text-Books  of  several  Medical  Colleges  in  the  United  Stat  >s.  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons  alike  should  not  deprive  themselves  o;'  this  very 
important  work. 

A  critical  examination  of  the  Wood-Engravings  (109  in  number) 
will  reveal  the  fact  that  they  are  thoroughly  accurate  and  produced  by 
the  bed  artistic  ability. 


Opinions  and  Criticisms  on  Senn's  "Principles  of  Surgery." 


STEPHEN  SMITH,  M.l).,  Professor  of 
Clinical  Surgery  Medical  Department 
University    of    the    City    of    New     fork, 

writes: — "I  have  examined  the  work  with  great 
satisfaction  and  regard  it  as  a  most  valuable  addi- 
tion to  American  Surgical  literature.  There  has 
long  been  great  need  of  a  work  on  the  principles  of 
Surgery  which  would  fully  illustrate  the  present  ad- 
vanced state  of  knowledge  of  the  various  subjects 
embraced  in  this  volume.  The  work  seems  to  me  to 
meet  this  want  admirably." 

L.  C.  LANK,  A.M.,  M.D.,  M.R.C.S., 
L.L.D.,  Professor  of  Surgery  in  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  Cooper  Medical  College,  San 
Francisco,  thus  writes :—"  Especially  is  the 
work  valuable  as  a  comprehensive  review  of  the  sub- 
ject of  the  bacteriological  causation  of  surgical 
disease  :  in  no  other  work  can  so  much  be  found  told 
so  briefly  and  so  well  as  has  been  done  by  Professor 
Senn  in  this  book." 

BOSWELL  PARK,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery  and 
Clinical  Surgery  in  the  University  of  IJut- 
falo,  N.  Y.,  writes:—"  I  must  congratulate  both 


author  and  publisher  on  the  excellent  work  laid 
before  us.  For  years  1  have  wanted  just  such  a  book 
to  put  into  the  hands  of  my  students,  and  now  1  c::n 
give  no  warmer  commendation  of  it  than  to  state 
that  I  have  urged  all  my  class  to  lose  no  time  in 
procuring  it."  

"  The  achievements  of  Modern  Surgery  are  akin 
to  the  marvelous,  and  Dr.  Senn  has  set  forth  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  science  with  a  completeness  that  seems 
to  leave  nothing  further  to  be  said  until  new  discover- 
ies are  made.  The  work  is  systematic  and  compact, 
without  a  fact  omitted  or  a  sentence  too  much,  and  it 
not  only  makes  instructive  but  fascinating  reading.  A 
conspicuous  merit  of  Senn's  work  is  his  method,  his 
persistent  and  tireless  search  through  original  inves- 
tigations for  additions  to  knowledge,  and  the  prac- 
tical character  of  his  discoveries.  This  combination 
of  the  discover  and  the  practical  man  gives  a  special 
value  to  all  his  work,  and  is  one  of  the  secrets  of  his 
fame.  No  physician  in  any  line  of  practice  can 
afford  to  be  without  'Senn's  Principles  of  Sur- 
gery.'"  —  The  Review  of  Insanity  and  Nervous 
Diseases. 


JUST  PUBLISHED— A  NEW  AND  VALUABLE  WORK  ON 

Practical  Electricity 

MEDICINE  AND  SURGERY. 

-BY- 

G.  A.  LIEBIG,  Jr.,  Ph.D., 

Assistant  in  Electricity,  Johns  Hopkins    University;    I.eciurer  on    Medical    Electricity,  College  of  Phy- 
sicians and  Surgeons,  Baltimore;    Member  of  the  American  Institute 
of  Electrical  Engineers,  etc., 

—AND— 

GEORGE  H.  ROHE,  M.D., 

Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Hygiene,  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  Baltimore;  Visiting  Physician 

to  Bay  View  and  City  Hospitals;     Director  of  the  Maryland  Maternite;  Associate 

Editor  "Annual  of  the  Universal   Medical  Sciences,"  etc. 


PROFUSELY  ILLUSTRATED  BY  WOOD-ENGRAVINGS   AND    ORIGINAL   DIAGRAMS,  AND  PUBLISHED  IN  ONE 

HANDSOME  ROYAL  OCTAVO  VOLUME  OF  ABOUT  400  PAGES,  BOUND  IN  EXTRA  CLOTH. 
NET  PRICE,  UNITED  STATES  and  CANADA,  $2.00,  Post-paid ;  GREAT  BRITAIN,  8s.  6d.  ;  FRANCE,  12  fr.  40. 


The  part  on  Physical  Electricity,  written  by  Dr.  Liebig,  one  of  the  recognized 
authorities  on  the  science  in  the  United  States,  treats  fully  such  topics  of  interest  as 
Storage  Batteries,  Dynamos,  the  Electric  Light,  and  the  Principles  and  Practice  of 
Electrical  Measurement  in  their  relations  to  Medical  Practice. 

Professor  Rohe,  who  writes  on  Electro -Therapeutics,  discusses  at  length  the  recent 
developments  of  Electricity  in  the  treatment  of  stricture,  enlarged  prostate,  uterine 
fibroids,  pelvic  cellulitis,  and  other  diseases  of  the  male  and  female  genito-urinary  organs. 

The  applications  of  Electricity  in  dermatology,  as  well  as  in  the  diseases  of  the 
nervous  system,  are  also  fully  considered. 

THE  SECOND  VOLUME  IN  THE  PHYSICIANS'  AND  STUDENTS" 
READY  REFERENCE  SERIES. 


HAND-BOOK 


By  CUTHBERT  BOWBN,  M.D.,  B.A., 

Editor  of  "  Notes  on  Practice." 


EXTRACT  FROM  THE  PREFACE.— "  While  this  is  essentially  a  Student's  Manual,  a  Iarga 
amount  of  matter  has  been  incorporated  which,  it  is  hoped,  will  render  it  a  useful  reference-book  to  the  young 
graduate  who  is  just  entering  on  his  professional  career,  and  more  particularly  the  individual  whose  sphere 
of  work  demands  a  more  practical  acquaintance  with  pharmaceutical  processes  than  is  required  of  the  ordi- 
nary city  practitioner.  Great  care  has  been  taken  throughout  the  book  to  familiarize  the  student  with  the 
best  methods  of  administering  the  various  drugs  he  will  be  called  upon  to  use,  and  with  this  object  a  large 
number  of  standard  prescriptions  have  been  selected  from  the  works  of  the  most  eminent  authorities,  which 
he  can  either  adopt,  with  modifications  to  suit  particular  cases,  or  use  as  models  on  which  to  construct  his  own 
formulae.'"  . 


This  excellent  manual  comprises  in  its  366  small 
octavo  pages  about  as  much  sound  and  valuable  in- 
formation on  the  subjects  indicated  in  its  title  as 
could  well  be  crowded  into  the  compass.  The  book 
is  exhaustively  and  correctly  indexed,  and  of  a  con- 
venient form.  The  paper,  press-work,  and  binding 
are  excellent,  and  the  typography  (long  primer  and 
brevier)  is  highly  to  be  commended,  as  opposed  to 
the  nonpareil  and  agate  usually  used  incompendsof 
this  sort,  and  which  are  destructive  to  vision  and 
temper  alike. — St.  Louis  Med.  and  Surg.  your. 

In  going  through  it,  we  have  been  favorably  im- 
pressed by  the  plain  and  practical  suggestions  in 
regard  to  prescription  writing,  and  the  metric  sys- 
tem, and  the  other  things  which  must  be  known  in 
order  to  write  good  and  accurate  prescriptions. — 
Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter. 

Many  works  claim  more  in  their  title-pages  than 
can   be  verified   further   on,   but  the  only  adverse 


criticism  we  can  make  on  this  volume  is  that  it  does 
not  claim  enough. — Southern  Cali/ornia  Prac- 
titioner. 

The  book  is  one  of  the  very'  best  of  its  class. — 
Columbus  Medical  Journal. 

This  is  a  very  condensed  and  valuable  resume 
of  the  drugs  recognised  by  the  United  States  Phar- 
macopoeia, and  all  the  officinal  and  important 
preparations. — Southern  Medical  Record. 

Dr.  Bowen's  work  is  a  very  valuable  one  indeed, 
and  will  be  found  "  to  fill  a  want "  beyond  a  doubt. 
—  Cincinnati  Medical  News. 

It  is  short  and  concise  in  its  treatment  of  the 
Subjects,  yet  it  gives  sufficient  to  gain  a  very  correct 
knowledge  of  everything  that  comes  under  this  head- 
ing. This  is  a  ready  work  for  the  country  physician, 
who  must  of  necessity  have  a  more  practical  acquain- 
tance with  pharmaceutical  processes. — Medical 
Brief. 


One   12mo   volume  of   370  pages.        Handsomely  Bound    in   Dark-Blue   Cloth. 

Price,   post-paid,  in  tlie  United    States  and    Canada,  §1.4:0,  net; 

in  Great  Britain,  6s.  6d.;  in  France,  9  fr.  25. 


(F.  4.  DWIS,  Medico1  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


Bashore's  Improved  Clinical  Chart. 

For  the  SEPARATE  PLOTTING  of  TEMPERATURE,  PULSE,  and  RESPIRATION. 

Designed  for   the  Convenient,   Accurate,   and  Permanent  Daily   Recording  of  Cases  in 
Hospital  and  Private  Practice. 

B>    HARVEY   B.    BASHORE,   M.D. 


COPYRIGHTED,   188S,  BY  F.  A.  DAVIS. 

SO  Charts,  In  Ta,"blet  Form.  Size,  8x12  in.cli.ee. 


Price,  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  Post-paid,  50  Cents, 
Net ;  Great  Britain,  2s.  6d. ;  France,  3  fr.  60. 

The  above  diagram  is  a  little  more  than  one-fifth  (1-5)  the  actual  size  of  the  chart  and  shows  the 
method  of  plotting,  the  upper  curve  being  the  Temperature,  the  middle  the  Pulse,  and  the  lower  (he 
Respiration.     By  this  method  a  full  record  of  each  can  easily  be  kept  with  but  one  color  ink 

It  is  so  arranged  that  all  practitioners  will  find  it  an  invaluable  aid  in  the  treatment  of  their  patients. 

On  the  bark  of  each  chart  will  be  found  ample  space  conveniently  arranged  for  recording  "Clinical 
History  and  Symptoms"  and  "Treatment." 

By  its  use  the  physician  will  secure  such  a  complete  record  of  his  cases  as  will  enable  him  to  review 
them  at  any  time.  Thus  he  will  always  have  at  hand  a  source  of  individual  improvement  and  benefit  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  the  value  of  which  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


Thousands  of  Physicians  have  Won  Success  in  their  Chosen  Profession  through  the  Aid 

of  this  Invaluable  Work. 


ZLSTDEW     EDITION. 

BOOK    ON 

The   Physician   Himself 

And  Things  that  Concern  ins  Reputation  and  Success.  By  D.  W. 
CATHELL,  M.D.,  Baltimore, Md.  Being  the  ninth  edition  ("enlarged  and 
thoroughly  revised)  of  the  "  Physician  Himself,  and  what  he  should  add 
to  his  Scientific  acquirements  in  order  to  Secure  Success."  In  one  hand- 
some Octavo  Volume  of  298  pages,  bound  in  Extra  Cloth. 

Price,  post-paid,  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  $2.00  Net;  Great  Britain, 
Us.  6d. ;  France,  12  fr.  10. 

This  remarkable  book  has  passed  through  eight  (8)  editions  in  less 
than  five  years.  It  lias  j  ust  undergone  a  thorough  revision  by  the  author, 
who  has  added  much  new  matter  covering  many  points  and  elucidating 
many  excellent  ideas  not  included  in  former  editions. 

"  I  am  most  favorably  impressed  with  the  wisdom  and  force  of  the  points  made  in  '  The  Physician  Him- 
self,' and  believe  the  work  in  the  hands  of  a  young  graduate  will  greatly  enhance  his  chances  for  professional 
success." — From  Prof.  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"We  strongly  advise  every  actual  and  intending  practitioner  of  medicine  or  surgery  to  have  '  The 
Physician  Himself,'  ai:d  the  more  it  influences  his  future  conduct  the  better  he  will  be." — From  the  Canada 
Medical  and  Surgical  yoarnal,  Montreal. 


Medical    Symbolism. 

Historical  Studies  in  the  Arts  op  Healing  and  Hygiene.  By 
THOMAS  S.  SOZINSKEY,  M.D.,  Ph.D.,  author  of  "The  Culture  of 
Beauty,"  "  The  Care  and  Culture  of  Children,"  etc. 

No.  9  in  the  Physicians' and  Students'  Ready-Reference  Series.    12mo. 
Nearly  200  pages.  Neatly  bound  in  Dark-blue  Cloth.    Appropriately  illus- 
trated with  upward  of  Thirty  (30)  New  Wood-Engravings.     Just  Ready. 
Price  in  United  States  and  Canada,  post-paid,  $1.00  Net; 
Great  Britain,  Ss. ;  France,  6  fr.  20. 

The  subjoined  letters  will  show  with  what  interest  this  work  is 
regarded  (a  brief  article  having  first  appeared  in  the  "  Medical  and 
Surgical  Reporter  "  of  Philadelphia)  : — 

Dr.  Sozinskey. 

Dear  Doctor  : — Many  thanks.  You  ought  to  enlarge  the  article  to  a  little  book.  It  interested 
me  greatly.  In  a  bas-relief  of  myself  by  St.  Gaudens,  New  York,  he  has  set  beside  the  head  the  caduceus 
and  twin  serpents  as  symbolical  ;  at  ail  events,  they  will  symbolize  my  relation  to  snakes. 

Yours  truly, 
1524  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia.  S.  WEIR  MITCHELL. 


Philadelphia,  Jan.  24,  18S4. 
Dr.  T.  S.  Sozinskey. 

Dear  Sir: — Please  accept  my  thanks  for  your  paper  on  "Medical  Symbolism,"  received  this 
morning.  I  have  read  it  with  great  interest,  more  especially  as  it  is  in  the  direction  of  the  higher  education 
of  Physicians.  The  preponderance  of  the  so-called  practical  (empirical)  in  medical  literature,  which  appeals 
strongly  to  the  trade  element  in  the  profession,  makes  such  a  contribution  all  the  more  enjoyable. 

Very  truly  yours, 
1427  N.  Sixteenth  Street.  FRANCES  EMILY  WHITE. 


Philadelphia,  Jan.  23,  1SS4. 
Dr.  T.  S.  Sozinskey. 

My  Dear  Doctor  : — I  write  to  thank  you  for  a  copy  of  your  interesting  and  instructive  paper  on 
"Medical  Symbolism."  In  Fergusson,  on  "  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,"  which  you  quote,  you  can  readily 
trace  the  connection  between  the  emblems  of  religion  and  medicine.  I  recognize  that,  as  priest  and  Physi- 
cian were  once  the  same  person,  medicine  is  yet  justly  termed  "  the  divine  art."  It  affords  me  much  pleasure 
to  see  your  studious  interest  in  your  profession. 

Yours  trulv, 

HENRY  H.  SMITH. 


AN  IMPORTANT  PUBLICATION   OF  GREAT  VALUE  TO  THE  MEDICAL 
AND   LEGAL    PROFESSIONS. 


Spinal  Concussion: 

Surgically  Considered  as  a  Cause  of  Spinal  Injury,  and  Neurolcgi- 

cally  Restricted  to  a  Certain  Symptom  Group,  for 

■which  is  Suggested  the  Designation 

ERICHSEN'S  DISEASE,  AS  ONE  FORM  OF  THE  TRAUMATIC  NEUROSES. 


S.   V.    CLEVENGER,   M.D., 

CONSULTING   PHYSICIAN    KEESE    AND   ALEXIAS    HOSPITALS;     LATE    PATHOLOGIST    COUNTY    INSANB    ASYLUM, 
CHICAGO;    MEMUER  OF  NUMEROUS   AMERICAN  SCIENTIFIC  AM)  MEDICAL  SOCIETIES,'    COLLAUORATOR 
AMERICAN     NATURALIST,   ALIENIST     ANU     NEUROLOGIST,    JOURNAL    OF     NEUROLOGY    AND 
PSYCHIATRY,  JOURNAL  OF  NERVOUS  ANU  MENTAL  DISEASES;    AUTHOR  OF  "COM- 
PARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY  AND  PSYCHOLOGY,"  "AUTISTIC  ANATOMY,"  ETC. 


For  more  than  twenty  years  this  subject  has  occasioned  bitter  con- 
tention in  law  courts,  between  physicians  as  welPas  attorneys,  and  in 
thai  time  no  •work  lias  appeared  that  reviewed  the  entire  field  judicially 
until  Dr.  Clevenger's  book  Avas  written.  It  is  the  outcome  of  five  years' 
special  study  and  experience  in  legal  circles,  clinics,  hospital  and  private 
practice,  in  addition  to  twenty  years'  labor  as  a  scientific  student,  writer, 
and  teacher. 

The  literature  of  Spinal  Concussion  has  been  increasing  of  late  years 
to  an  unwieldy  shape  for  the  general  student,  and  Dr.  Clevenge.r  has  in  this 
work  arranged  and  reviewed  all  that  has  been  done  by  observers  since 
Hie  days  of  Eriehsen  and  those  who  preceded  him.  The  different  and 
sometimes  antagonistic  views  of  many  authors  are  full}'  given  from  the 
writings  of  Eriehsen,  Page,  Oppenheim,  Erb,  WestphaL,  Abercrombie, 
Sir  Astley  Cooper,  Boyer,  Charcot,  Leyden,  Rigler,  Spitzka,  Putnam, 
Knapp,  Dana,  and  many  other  European  and  American  students  of  the 
subject.  The  small,  but  Important,  work  of  Oppenheim,  of  the  Berlin 
University,  is  fully  translated,  and  constitutes  a  chapter  of  Dr.  Cleven- 
ger's book,  and  reference  is  made  wherever  discussions  occurred  in 
American  medico-legal  societies. 

There  are  abundant  illustrations,  particularly  for  Electro-diagnosis, 
and  to  enable  a  clear  comprehension  of  the  anatomical  and  pathological 
relations. 

The  Chapters  are:  I.  Historical  Introduction;  II.  Eriehsen  on 
Spinal  Concussion  ;  III.  Page  on  Injuries  of  the  Spine  and  Spinal  Cord; 
IV.  Recent  Discussions  of  Spinal  Concussion ;  V.  Oppenheim  on  Trau- 
matic Neuroses;  VI.  Illustrative  Cases  from  Original  and  all  other 
Sources;  VII.  Traumatic  Insanity;  VIII.  The  Spinal  Column;  IX. 
Symptoms;  X.  Diagnosis;  XI.  Pathology;  XII.  Treatment;  XIII. 
Medico-legal  Considerations. 

Other  special  features  consist  in  a  description  of  modern  methods 
of  diagnosis  by  Electricity,  a  discussion  of  the  controversy  concerning 
hysteria,  and  the  author's  original  pathological  view  that  the  lesion  is 
one  involving  the  spinal  sympathetic  nervous  system.  In  this  latter 
respect  entirely  new  ground  is  taken,  and  the  diversity  of  opinion  con- 
cerning the  functional  and  organic  nature  of  the  disease  is  afforded  a 
basis  for  reconciliation. 

Every  Physician  and  Lawyer  should  own  tin's  work. 

In  one  handsome  Royal  Octavo  Volume  of  nearly  400  pages,  with 
Thirty  Wood-Engravings.  Net  price,  in  United  States  and  Canada, 
$2.50,  post-paid  ;  in  Great  Britain,  10s.  6d. ;  in  France,  15  fr. 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


JUST  READY-A  NEW  AND  IMPORTANT  WORK. 


ESSAY 


MEDICAL  PNEUIATOLOGY  SEROTHERAPY: 

A  PRACTICAL  INVESTIGATION  OF  THE  CLINICAL  AND  THERAPEUTIC  VALUE 

OF  THE  GASES  IN  MEDICAL  AND  SURGICAL  PRACTICE,  WITH  ESPECIAL 

REFERENCE  TO  THE  VALUE  AND  AVAILABILITY  OF 

OXYGEN,  NITROGEN,  HYDROGEN,  AND  NITROGEN  MONOX/DE. 

By  d.   N.   DEMARQUAY, 

Surgeon  to  the  Municipal  Hospital,  Paris,  and  of  the  Council  of  State  ;  Member  of  the  Imperial  Society 

of  Surgery;  Correspondent  of  the  Academies  of  Belgium,  Turin,  Munich,  etc.  ;  Officer 

of  the  Legion  of  Honor  ;  Chevalier  of  the  Orders  of  Isabella-the- 

Catholic  and  of  the  Conception,  of  Portugal,  etc. 

TRANSLATED,   WITH  NOTES,  ADDITIONS,  AND  OMISSIONS, 

By    SAMUEL   S.   WALLIAN,   A.M.,    M.D., 

Member  of  the  American  Medical  Association  ;  Ex-President  of  the  Medical  Association  of  Northern  New 
York  ;  Member  of  the  New  York  County  Medical  Society,  etc. 


In  one  Handsome  Octavo  Volume  of  316  Pages,  Printed  on  Fine  Paper,  in  the  Best 
Style  of  the  Printer's  Art,  and  Illustrated  with  21  Wood-Cuts. 

United  States.        Canada  (duty  paid).        Great  Britain.  France. 

NET  PRICE,  CLOTH,  Post- paid,        S3. 00  8S2.30  8s.  6d.  12  fr.  40 

»  ^-RUSSIA,      "  3.00  3.30  13s.  18  fr.  60 


For  some  years  past  there  has  been  a  growing  demand  for  something  more  satisfac- 
tory and  more  practical  in  the  way  of  literature  on  the  subject  of  what  has,  by  common 
consent,  come  to  be  termed  "Oxygen  Therapeutics."  On  all  sides  professional  men  of 
standing  and  ability  are  turning  their  attention  to  the  use  of  the  gaseous  elements  about 
us  as  remedies  in  disease,  as  well  as  sustainers  in  health.  In  prosecuting  their  inquiries, 
the  first  hindrance  has  been  the  want  of  any  reliable,  or  in  any  degree  satisfactory, 
literature  on  the  subject. 

Purged  of  the  much  quackery  heretofore  associated  with  it,  Aerotherapy  is  now 
recognized  as  a  legitimate  department  of  medical  practice.  Although  little  noise  is  made 
about  it,  the  use  of  Oxygen  Gas  as  a  remedy  has  increased  in  this  country  within  a  few 
years  to  such  an  extent  that  in  New  York  City  alone  the  consumption  for  medical  pur- 
poses now  amounts  to  more  than  300,000  gallons  per  annum. 

This  work,  translated  in  the  main  from  the  French  of  Professor  Demarquay,  contains 
also  a  very  full  account  of  recent  English,  German,  and  American  experiences,  prepared 
by  Dr.  Samuel  S.  Wallian,  of  New  York,  whose  experience  in  this  field  antedates  that  of 
any  other  American  writer  on  the  subject. 

Plain  Talks  on  Avoided  Subjects. 

— BY — 

HENRY  N.  GUERNSEY,  M.D., 

Formerly  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Institutes  in  the  Hahnemann  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia; 

Author  of  Guernsey  s  "  Obstetrics,"  including  the  Disorders  Peculiar  to  Women  and 

Young  Children  ;  Lectures  on  Materia  Medica,  etc. 


IN  ONE  NEAT  16mo  VOLUME.     BOUND  IN  EXTRA  CLOTH.     Price,  Post-paid,  in 
United  States  and  Canada,  $1.00  ;  Great  Britain,  4s.  6d. ;  France,  6  fr.  20. 


This  is  a  little  volume  designed  to  convey  information  upon  one  of  the  most  important  subjects  con- 
nected with  our  physical  and  spiritual  well-being,  and  is  adapted  to  both  sexes  and  all  ages  and  conditions 
of  society  ;  in  fact,  so  broad  is  its  scope  that  no  human  being  can  well  afford  to  be  without  it,  and  so  com- 
prehensive in  its  teachings  that,  no  matter  how  well  informed  one  may  be,  something  can  yet  be  learned  from 
this,  and  yet  it  is  so  plain  that  any  one  who  can  read  at  all  can  fully  understand  its  meaning. 

The  Author,  Dr.  H.  N.  Guernsey,  has  had  an  unusually  long  and  extensive  practice,  and  his  teachings  in 
this  volume  are  the  results  of  his  observation  and  actual  experience  with  all  conditions  of  human  life. 

His  work  is  warmly  indorsed  by  many  leading  men  in  all  branches  of  professional  life,  as  well  as  by 
many  whose  business  connections  have  caused  them  to  be  close  observers. 

The  following  Table  of  Contents  shows  the  scope  of  the  book  : — 

CONTENTS.  Chapter  I. — Introductory.  II. — The  Infant.  III. — Childhood.  IV. — Adoles- 
cence of  the  Male.  V. — Adolescence  of  the  Female.  VI. — Marriage:  The  Husband.  VII.— 
"^he  Wife.     VIII. — Husband  and  Wife.     IX'  To  the  Unfortunate.     X. — Origin  <yp  the  Sej^ 

(F.  A.  DAVIS.  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.)  7 


NEW    EDITION; 


Lessons  m  Gynecology. 

By  WILLIAM  GOODELL,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Etc., 

Professor  op  Clinical  Gynecology  in  tub  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

With  112  Illustrations.      Third   Edition,  Thoroughly  ltevised  and   Greatly  Enlarged. 
ONE  VOLUME,  LARGE  OCTAVO,  578  PAGES. 


This  exceedingly  valuable  work,  from  one  of  (he  most  eminent  specialists  and  teachers  in  gynecology 
in  the  United  Stales,  is  now  offered  to  the  profession  in  a  much  move  complete  condition  than  either  of  the 
editions.  It  embraces  ail  the  more  important  diseases  and  the  principal  operations  in  the  field  of 
gynecology,  and  brings  to  bear  upon  them  all  the  extensive  practical  experience  and  wide  reading  of  the 
author.  It  is  an  indispensable  guide  to  every  practitioner  who  has  to  do  with  the  diseases  peculiar  to 
women. 

Fig.  44. 


Natural  Position  of  the  Womb  When  the  Bladder  is  Full. 
After  Briesky. 


These  lessons  are  so  well  Vnown  that  it  is  en- 
tirely unnecessary  to  do  more  than  to  call  attention 
fact  of  the  appearance  of  the  third  edition. 
It  is  too  good  a  book  to  have  been  allowe  1  to  remain 
out  of  print,  and  it  has  unquestionably  been  missed. 
The  author  has  revised  the  work  with  special  care, 
adding  to  each  lesson  such  fresh  matter  as  the  prog- 
ress in  the  art  rendered  necessary,  and  he  has  en- 
larged it  by  the  insertion  of  six  new  lessons.  This 
edition  will,  without  question,  be  as  eagerly  sought 
for  as  were  its  predecessors. — American  Journal 
of  Obstetrics. 

The  former  editions  of  this  treatise  were  well 
received  by  the  profession,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  new  matter  added  tothe  present  issue  makes 
it  more  useful  than  its  predecessors. — New  York 
Mi  die  a  I  Record. 

His  literary  style  is  peculiarly  charming.    There 


is  a  directness  and  simplicity  about  it  which  is  easier 
to  admire  than  to  copy.  His  chain  of  plain  words 
and  almost  blunt  expressions,  his  familiar  compari- 
son and  homely  illustrations,  make  his  writings,  like 
his  lectures,  unusually  entertaining.  The  substance 
cf  his  teachings  we  regard  as  equally  excellent. — 
Phila.  Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter 

Extended  mention  of  the  contents  of  the  book  is 
unnecessary';  suffice  it  to  say  that  every  important 
disease  found  in  the  female  sex  is  taken  up  and  dis- 
cussed in  a  common-sense  kind  of  a  way  We  wish 
every  physician  in  America  could  read  and  carry 
out  the  suggestions  of  the  chapter  on  "the  sexual  re- 
lations as  causes  of  uterine  disorders — conjugal 
onanism  and  kindred  sins."  The  deoartment  treat- 
ing of  nervous  counterfeits  of  uterine  diseases  i; 
a  most  valuable  one.  —  Kansas  City  Medical 
I    Index. 


Price,  in  United  States  and  Canada,  Cloth,  $5.00;  Full  Sheep,  $6.00.    Discount,  20  per 

cent.,  making  it,  net,  Cloth,  $100;  Sheep,  $4.30.    Postage,  27  Cents  ertra.    Great 

Britain,  Cloth,  17s. ;  Sheep,  21s.,  post-paid,  net.    France,  30  fr.  80. 

8  \  '   A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


WITH  NOTES  UPON   THEIR  CLIMATE. 

ISv  BTJSHROD    "W.    (JjRi.X<CE:S,   jRl.KT.,   IXC  ID., 

Member  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of   Science,   the  American  Public  0  •'.'in,  the 

Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  the  Franklin  Institute,  and  the  Academy  oi  Natural  Si  iences,  Philadelphia; 

the  Sooiety  of  Alaskan  Natural  History  and  Ethnology,  bitka,  Alaska,  etc. 

WITH  A  TRANSLATION  FROM  THE  GERMAN,  BY  Mr.  S.  KAUFFMANN, 

Of  'uose  chapters  of  "  Die  (Climate  dcr  Erde"  written  by  Dr.  A.  Woeikof,  of  Si    P(  t<         irg,  RllMia,  that 
relate  to  North  and  South  America  and  the  islands  and  oceans  contiguous  thereto. 


In  One  Octavo  Volume.      Handsomely   IJound   in   Cloth.      Nearly  300   Pages.      Price, 
Post-paid,  in  V.  S.  and  Canada,  $2.00,  net.    Great  Kritain,  8s.  Gd.    France,  12  fr.  40. 


This  is  a  unique  nnd  valuable  work,  and  useful  to  physicians  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  It  is  just  sue*! 
a  volume  as  the  Medical  Profession  have  stood  in  need  of  for  many  years.  We  mention  a  few  of  the  raeril  -. 
it  possesses:  First.  List  ofcall  the  Health  Rcsons  of  the  country, arranged  according  to  their  climate. 
Second.  Contains  just  the  information  needed  by  tourists,  invalids,  and  those  who  visit  summer  or  winter 
resorts.  Third.  The  latest  and  best  large  railroad  map  for  reference.  Fourth.  It  indicates  the  climate 
each  one  should  select  for  health.  Fifth.  The  author  has  traveled  extensively,  and  most  of  his  suggestions 
are  practical  in  reference  to  localities. 


Taken  altogether,  this  is  by  far  the  most  complete  ex- 
position of  the  subject  of  resorts  that  has  yet  been  put 
forth,  and  it  is  one  that  every  physician  must  needs  possess 
intelligent  information  upoii.  We  predict  a  large  demand 
for  this  useful  and  attractive  book. — Buffalo  Med.  and 
Surf;.  Jour. 

The  special  chapter  on  the  therapeutics  of  climate  .  . 
is  excellent  for  its  precautionary  suggestions  in  the  selec- 
tion of  climates  and  local  conditions,  with  reference  to 
known  pathological  indications  and  constitutional  predis- 
positions.—  The  Sanitarian. 

It  is  arranged  in  such  a  manner  that  it  will  he  of  great 
service  to  medical  men  whose  duty  it  often  becomes  to  rec- 
ommend a  health  resort. — y.  IF.  Med.  Jour. 

A  well-arranged  map  of  the  United  States  serves  as  the 
frontispiece  of  the  book ;  and  an  almost  perfect  index  is 
appended,  while  between  the  two  is  an  amount  of  informa- 
tion as  to  places  for  the  health-seeker  that  cannot  be  gotten 
elsewhere.  We  most  cordially  recommend  the  book  to 
travelers  and  to  the  doctor. —  Virginia  Med.  Monthly. 

This  is  a  work  that  has  long  been  needed,  as  there  is 
scarcely  a  physician  who  has  not  had  occasion  to  look  up 
the  authorities  on  climate,  elevation,  dryness,  humidity, 
etc  ,  etc.,  of  the  various  health  resorts,  and  has  had  great 
difficulty  in  finding  reliable   information.     It  certainly 


ought,  as  it  deserves,  to  receive  a  hearty  welcome  from  the 
profession. — Medical  Advance. 

The  book  before  us  is  a  very  comprehensive  volume, 
giving  all  necessary  information  concerning  climate,  tem- 
perature, humidity,  sunshine,  and  indeed  everything  neces- 
sary to  be  stated  for  the  benefit  of  the  physician  or  invalid 
seeking  a  health  resort  in  the  United  States. — Southern 
Clin  ic. 

This  work  is  extremely  valuable,  owing  to  the  liberal 
and  accurate  manner  in  which  it  gives  information  regard- 
ing the  various  resorts  on  the  American  continent,  without 
being  prejudiced  in  the  least  in  favor  of  any  particular  one. 
but  giving  all  in  a  fair  manner.  .  .  .  All  physicians 
need  .just  such  a  work,  for  the  doctor  is  always  asked  to 
give  information  on  the  subject  to  his  patients.  Therefore, 
it  should  find  a  place  in  every  physician'3  library. — The 
Med.  Brief. 

The  author  of  this  admirable  work  has  long  made  a 
study  of  American  climate,  from  the  stand-point  of  a  phy- 
sician, with  a  view  to  ascertaining  the  most  suitable  locali- 
ties for  the  residence  of  invalids,  believing  proper  climate 
to  be  an  almost  indispensable  factor  in  the  treatment,  pre- 
vention, and  cure  of  many  forms  of  disease.  .  .  .  The 
book  evidences  careful  research  and  furnishes  much  use  fill 
information  not  to  be  found  elsewhere. — Pacific  Med.  Jour. 


JUST    PUBLISHED' 


RECORD-BOOK  OF  MEDICAL  EXAMINATIONS 

For  Life  Insurance. 


In  examining  for  Life  Insurance,  questions  are  easily  overlooked  and  the  answers  to 
thern  omitted  ;  and,  as  these  questions  are  indispensable,  they  must  be  answered  before  the 
case  can  be  acted  upon,  and  the  examiner  is  often  put  to  much  inconvenience  to  obtain 
tbis  information. 

The  need  has  long  been  felt  among  examiners  for  a  reference-book  in  which  could  be 
noted  the  principal  points  of  an  examination,  and  thereby  obviate  the  necessity  of  a 
second  visit  to  the  applicant  when  further  information  is  required. 

•*  After  a  careful  study  of  all  the  forms  of  examination  blanks  now  used  by  Insurance 
Companies,  Dr.  J.  M.  Keating  has  compiled  such  a  record-book  which  we  are  sure  will  fill 
this  long-felt  want. 

This  record-book  is  small,  neat,  and  complete,  and  embraces  all  the  principal  points 
that  are  required  by  the  different  companies.  It  is  made  in  two  sizes,  viz.  :  No.  1,  cover- 
ing one  hundred  (100)  examinations,  and  No.  2,-  covering  two  hundred  (200)  examina- 
tions. The  size  of  the  book  is  7  x  3f  inches,  and  can  be  conveniently  carried  in  the 
pocket. 


NET    PRICES,    POST-PAID. 

U.  S.  and  Canada.        Great  Britain. 
No.  1,  For  100  Examinations,  in  Cloth,         -         &»  .50  2s.  6d. 

No.  2,  For  200  Examinations,    in   Full 

Leather,  with  Side  Flap,  .       -  1.00  4s.  6d. 


France. 
3  fr.  60 


6  fr.  2« 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S  A.) 


■DISEASES' 


OP  THE 

Heart  and  Circulation 

IN  INFANCY  AND  ADOLESCENCE. 

"With  an  Appendix  entitled  "  Clinical  Studies  on  the 
Pulse  in  Childhood." 


JOHN   M.   KEATING,  M.D., 

Obstetrician  to  the  Philadelphia  Hospital,  and  Lecturer  on  Diseas.s  of  Women  and  Children;  Surgeon  to 

the  Maternity  Hospital  ;  Physician  to  St.  Joseph's  1  lospital ;   Fellow  of  the 

College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia,  etc., 


WILLIAM  A.  EDWARDS,  M.D., 

instructor  in  Clinical  Medicine  and  Physician  to  the  Medical  Dispensary  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania ; 

Physician  to  St.  Joseph's  Hospital  ;  Fellow  of  the  Collece  of  Physicians  ;  formerly 

Assistant  Pathologist  to  the  Philadelphia  Hospital,  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  PHOTOGRAPHS  AND  WOOD-ENGRAVINGS. 

About  225  Pages.    8vo.    Bound  in  Cloth.    Price,  post-paid,  in  U.  S. 
and  Canada,  $1.50,  net;  Great  Britain,  6s.  6d. ;  France,  9  fr.  35. 


There  are  many  excellent  text-books  on  children's  diseases,  but  they  have  failed  to  give  a  satisfactory 
account  of  the  diseases  of  the  heart  ;  and,  indeed,  as  far  as  known,  this  work  of  Keating  and  Edwards'  now 
I  resentc  1  to  the  profession  is  the  only  systematic  attempt  that  has  been  made  to  collect  in  book  form  the 
abundant  material  which  is  scattered  throughout  medical  literature  in  the  form  of  journal  articles,  clinical 
lectures,  theses,  and  reports  of  societies. 

The  authors  have  endeavored,  in  their  difficult  task,  to  collect  these  valuable  materials  and  place  them 
within  easy  reach  of  those  who  are  interested  in  this  important  subject.  That  they  have  succeeded  will,  we 
believe.be  conceded  by  all  who  obtain  and  make  use  of  their  very  valuable  contribution  to  this  hitherto 
neglected  field  of  medical  literature. 

An  appendix,  entitled  "  Clinical  Studies  on  the  Pulse  in  Childhood,"  follows  the  index  in  the  book,  and 
will,  we  are  sure,  be  found  of  much  real  value  to  every  practitioner  of  medicine.  The  work  is  made  available 
for  ready  reference  by  a  well-arranged  index.  We  append  the  table  of  contents  showing  the  scope  of  the 
book : — 

COITTEITTS 

Chapter  I. — The  Methods  of  Study — Instruments — 

Fcetal    Circulation — Congenital  Diseases    of    the 

Heart — Malformations — Cyanosis. 
Chapter  II. — Acute  and   Chronic  Endocarditis — 

Ulcerative  endocarditis. 
Chapter  111.— Acute  and  Chronic  Pericarditis. 
Chapter  IV. — The  treatment  of  Endo-  and  Peri- 
carditis— Paracentesis  Pericardii — Hydropericar- 

dium — Ha.mopericardium — Pneumopericardium. 
Chapter  V. — Myocarditis — Tumors,  New  Growths, 

and  Parasites 
Chapter   VI.— Valvular  Disease:    Mitral,   Aortic, 

Pulmonary,  and  Tricuspid. 


Chapter  VII. — General  Diagnosis,  Prognosis,  and 
Treatment  of  Valvular  Disease. 

Chapter  VIII. —  Endocarditis — Atheroma  —  Aneu- 
rism. 

Chapter  IX. — Cardiac  Neuroses — Angina  Pectoris 
— Exophthalmic  Goitre. 

Chapter  X. — Diseases  of  the  Hlood :  Plethora, 
Anamia,  Chlorosis,  Pernicious  Anaemia,  l.eu- 
kamia— Hodgkin's  Disease — Hamophilia.Throm- 
bosis,  and  Embolism. 

INDEX. 

APPENDIX.— Clinical  Studies  on  the  Pllsb 
in  Childhood. 


Drs.  Keatine  nnd  Edwards  have  produced  a  work  that 
will  give  material  nid  t<>  evorr  doctor  in  his  practice  among 
children.  The  style  of  the  book  is  graphic  and  pleasing, 
thediag  plicit and  exact,  and_ the  tnera- 

inde  the  novelties  of  medicine  as  well 
as  the  old  and  tried  agents.     Pittoburgh  Med.  Review. 
A  very  I  valuable  work  has  been  given  to 

.   i  \  Drs.  Keating  and   Edwards,  in 
their  treatise  on  the  diseases  of  the  heart  and  circulation    | 
in  infan  i  Bnce,  nnd  they  deserve  the  greatest    | 

credit  for  the  admirable  manner  in  which  they  havi 

reviewed,  and  made  ose  of  the  immenso  amount  of 

muter'  it.'int  subject.—  An  hives  qf  Pediatric*. 

The  plan  of  tne  work  is  the  correct  one,  viz..  the  Snp- 
tlemen  lervations  of  the  better  class  of  prao- 

titioners  by  the  experience  of  those  who  have  given  the 
■abject  jysteuiutic  attention.— Medical  Age. 


It  is  not  a  mere  compilation,  but  a  systematic  treatise, 
and  hears  evidence  of  considerable  labor  and  observation  on 
the  part  of  the  authors.  Two  fine  photographs  of  dissec- 
tions exhibit  mitral  stenosis  and  mitral  retfurxitniinn  ; 
there  are  also  a  number  of  wood-cuts. — Clevi  land  Medical 
Qaaette, 

As  tho  works  upon  diseases  of  children  give  little  or  no 

attention   to  diseases  ol  the  heart,  this  work  of  Drs.  Keat- 

l   Edwards   will  supply  a  want.      Wo  think   that 

there  will  be  no  physician,  wno  takes  an  interest  in  the 

affections  of  yonng  folks,  who  will  not  wish  to  consult  it. 

—  Vinrmnnli  Mnl.  .XrVK. 

The  work  takes  up,  in  an  able  and  scientific  manner, 
diseases  of  the  heart  in  children.  This  is  a  part  of  the 
field  of  medical  science  which  has  not  been  cultivated  tv< 
the  extent  that  the  importance  of  the  subject  deserves  — 
Canada  Lancet. 


J) 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


Text-Book  of  Hygiene. 

A  Comprehensive  Treatise  on  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Pre- 
ventive Medicine  from  an  American  Stand-point.  By  GEORGE  H. 
ROHE,  IV!. D.,  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Hygiene  in  the  College  ol 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  Baltimore;  Member  of  the  American   Public 

Health  Association,  ete. 

Second  Edition,  thoroughly  revised  and  largely  rewritten,  with 
many  illustrations  and  valuable  tables.  In  one  handsome  Royal  Octavo 
volume  of  over  400  pages,  bound  in  Extra  Cloth. 

United  States.  Canada  (duty  paid).     Great  Britain.  France. 

Price,  post-paid,        $2.50  Net  $2.75  Net  14s.  16  fr.  20 

Every  Sanitarian  should  have  Rohe's  "Text-Book  of  Hygiene"  as  a 
work  of  Reference.  Of  this  NEW  (second)  edition,  one  of  the  best  quali- 
fied judges,  namely,  Albert  L.  Gihon,  M.D.,  Medical  Director  U.  S.  Navy, 
in  charge  of  U.  S.  Naval  Hospital,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  ex-President  of 
the  American  Public  Health  Association,  writes  :  "  It  is  the  most  admirable, 
concise  resume  of  the  £icts  of  Hygiene  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 
Prof.  Rohe's  attractive  style  makes  the  book  so  readable  that  no  better 
presentation  of  the  important  place  of  Preventive  Medicine,  among  their 
studies,  can  be  desired  for  the  younger  members,  especially,  of  our 
profession. 


ON    THE 


For  Physicians  and  Students.  By  Dr.  LUDWIG  EDINGER,  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main.  Second  Revised  Edition.  With  133  Illustrations. 
Translated  by  WILLIS  HALL  VITTUM,  M.D.,  St.  Paul,  Minn.  Edited 
by  C.  EUGENE  R5GGS,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Mental  and  Nervous 
Diseases,  University  of  Minnesota ;  Member  of  the  American  Neuro- 
logical Association. 

The  illustrations  are  exactly  the  same  as  those  used  in  the  latest 
German  edition  (with  the  German  names  translated  into  English),  and 
are  very  satisfactory  to  the  Physician  and  Student  using  the  book. 

The  work  is  complete  in  one  Royal  Octavo  volume  of  about  250 
pages,  bound  in  Extra  Cloth. 

Price  in  United  States  and  Canada,  post-paid,  $1.75  Net; 
Great  Britain,  10s, ;  France,  12  fr.  20. 

This  work  is  thus  spoken  of  by  those  who  are  eminently  qualified  to 
pass  judgment : — 

B.  SACHS,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Mind  and  Nervous 
System,  etc.,  in  the  New  York  Polyclinic  and  Hospital,  says  :  "  I  know  the 
translation  well,  and  can  say  that  it  is  done  extremely  well.  I  shall 
recommend  it  at  once  to  my  students  at  the  Polyclinic." 

N.  SENN,  M.D.,  Ph.D.,  of  Milwaukee,  and  Professor  of  Principles  of 
Surgery  and  Surgical  Pathology  in  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago,  and  a 
distinguished  author  of  several  able  and  authoritative  works  on  Surgery  and 
Surgical  subjects,  says  :  "  A  critical  examination  of  the  contents  of  the 
book  has  satisfied  me  that  it  is  the  most  important  and  explicit  work  on 
this  intricate  subject  in  the  English  language,  alike  indispensable  to  the 
student  and  practitioner.  The  translation  has  been  done  in  a  masterly 
manner  and  the  illustrations  are  excellent," 


IMPORTANT  ANNOUNCEMENT-JUST  READY. 


Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics 

WITH  ESPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  THE 

CLINICAL  APPLICATION  OF  DRUGS. 

By  JOHN  V.  SHOEMAKER,  A.M.,  M.D., 

Professor  of  Materia  Medica,  Pharmacol 05 y,  Therapcniica,  and  Clinical  Medicine,  and  Clrmcsl  Professor 

of  Diseases  of  the  Skin  in  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College  of  Philadelphia  ;  Physician 

10  the  Me-iieo-Chiinsrgicul  Hospital,  etc,  ere. 

BEING  THE   SECOND   AND  LAST  VOLUME  OF  A  TREATISE   ON  MATERIA  MEDICA> 

PHARMACOLOGY.  AND  THERAPEUTICS.      AN  SNDEPENDENT 

VOLUME  UPON  DRUGS.    . 


This  13  the  long-looked-for  second  volume  of  Shoem.tkerTs 
Materia  Medica,  Pharmacology,  and  Therapeutics.  It  is  wholly  taken 
up  with  the  consideration  of  drugs,  each  remedy  being  studied  from 
three  points  of  view,  viz.:  the  Preparations,  or  Materia  Medica;  the 
Physiology  and  Toxicology,  or  Pharmacology;  and,  lastly,  its  Therapy. 
Dr.  Shoemaker  has  finally  brought  the  work  "to  completion  and  now  this 
second  vol  time  is  ready  for  delivery.  It  is  thoroughly  abreast  of  the 
progress  of  Therapeutic  Science,  and  is  really  an  indispensable  book  to 
every  student  and  practitioner  of  medicine.  Royal  Octavo,  about  6T5 
Pages.     Thoroughly  and  Carefully  Indexed. 


United  States. 

Canada  (dnty  paid). 

Great  Britain. 

France. 

Price  in  Cloth,  uost-paid, 

$3.50  Net 

$100  Net 

20s, 

22  fr.  40 

"       Sheep,     " 

150   " 

5.00   " 

23s, 

28  fr.  60 

(The  first  volume  of  the  work  is  devoted  to  Pharmacy,  General  Phar- 
macology, and  Therapeutics,  and  remedial  agents  not  properly  classed 
with  drugs.  Royal  Octavo,  353  pages.  Price  of  Volume  I,  post-paid,  in 
United  States,  Cloth,  $2.50  Net;  Sheep,  $3.25  Net.  Canada,  duty  paid, 
Cloth,  $2.75  Net;  Sheep,  $3.60  Net.  Great  Britain,  Cloth,  14s.;  Sheep, 
18s.    France,  Cloth,  16  fr.  20  ;  Sheep,  20  fr.  20.) 


THE  VOLUMES  ARE  SOLD  SEPARATELY. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher  and  Bookseller, 

1231  FILBERT  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA. 

CHICAGO,   ILL 21   Lakeside   Building,    214-220   S.  Clark  Street. 

BRANCH  )    NEW  YOKK.  CITY— 117  W.  Forty-second  Street. 


OFFICES 


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ORDER  FROM  NEAREST  OFFICE. 

FOR    SALE    BY    ALL    BOOKSELLERS, 


(over) 


shoemaker's  therapeutics  (vol.  11  of  a  treatise  on  materia  med'ca, 
Pharmacology,   and   Therapeutics) 

STANDS    ALONE. 

1 

It  Stands  Alone  among  Materia  Mediea  text-btofcs  hi  that  it 
includes  every  officinal  drag  and  every   preparation  contained   in   the 

United  States  Pharmacopoeia. 

2 

It  Stands  Alone  in  that  it  is  the  only  work  on  therapeutics 
giving  the  strength,  composition,  and  dosage  of  every  officinal  preparation. 

3 

It  Stands  Alone  in  giving  the  latest  investigations  with  regard 
to  the  physiological  action  of  drugs  and  the  most  recent  applications  in 
therapeutics. 

4 

It  Stands  Alone  in  combining  with  officinal  drugs  the  most 
reliable  reports  of  the  actions  and  uses  of  all  the  noteworthy  new  reme- 
dies, such  as  aeetaniiide,  antipyriti,  bromoform,  exalgine,  pyoctanin, 
pyridine, somnal, spermine  (Brown-Sequard),fcuberculine  (Koch's  lymph ^ 
sulphonal,  thiol,  urethan,  etc.,  etc. 

5 

It  Stands  Alone  as  a  complete  encyclopaedia  of  modern  thera- 
peutics in  condensed  form,  arranged  alphabetically  for  convenience  of 
reference  for  either  physician,  dentist,  or  pharmacist,  when  immediate 
fn formation  is  wanted  concerning  the  action,  composition,  dose,  or  anti- 
dotes for  any  officinal  preparation  or  new  remedy. 

a 

It  Stands  Alone  in  giving  the  physical  characters  and  chemical 
formulas  of  the  new  remedies,  especially  the  recently  introduced  anti- 
pyretics and  analgesics. 

7 

It  Stands  Alone  in  the  fact  that  it  gives  special  attention  to 
the  consideration ,  of  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of  poisoning  by  the 
more  active  drugs,  both  officinal  and  non-officinal. 


It  Stands  Alone  and    unrivaled  in  the  number  and  variety  of 

the  prescriptions  and  practical  formulae,  representing  the  Latest  achieve- 
ments of  clinical  medicine. 

9 

It  Stands  Alone  in  that,  while  summarizing  foreign  thera- 
peutical literature,  it  fully  recognizes  the  work  done  in  this  department 
by  American  physicians.  It  is  an  epitome  of  the  present  state  of 
American  medical  practice,  which  is  universally  acknowledged  to  be  the 
best  practice. 

10 

It  Stands  Alone  because  it  is  the  most  complete,  convenient,  and 
compendious  work  of  reference,  being,  in  fact,  a  companion  to  the  U.  S. 
Pharmacopoeia,  a  drug-encyclopaedia,  and  a  therapeutic  hand-book  all  ii* 
one  volume. 


AN  ENTIRELY  NEW  PHYSICIAN'S  VISITING  LIST. 

■  -      -  =  T  H  E 

Medical  Bulletin  Visiting  L1S1 

OR ■ 

Physician's  CALL  Record. 


ARRANGED  UPON  AN  ORIGINAL  AND  CONVENIENT  MONTHLY  AND  WEEKLY  PLAN 
FOR  THE  DAILY  RECORDING  OF  PROFESSIONAL  VISITS. 


Prequent  Rewriting  of  Names  Unnecessary. 

Tms  Visitint;  List  is  arranged  upon  a  plan  Lest  adapted  to  the  most 
convenient  use  of  all  physicians,  and  embraces  a  new  feature  in  recording 
daily  visits  not  found  in  any  other  list,  consisting  of  stl'B  or  half  leaves 
in  the  form  of  INSERTS,  a  glance  at  which  will  suffice  to  show  that  as  the 
first  week's  record  of  visits  is  completed  the  next  week's  record  may  be 
made  by  simply  turning  over  the  stub-leaf,  without  the  necessity  of  re- 
writing the  patients'  names.  This  is  done  until  the  month  is  completed, 
and  the  physician  has  kept  his  record  just  as  complete  in  every  detail  of 
visit,  CHARGE,  credit,  etc.,  as  he  could  have  done  had  he  used  any  of  the 
old-style  visiting  lists,  and  has  also  saved  himself  three-fourths  of  the 
time  and  labor  formerly  required  in  transferring  names  every  week. 
There  are  no  intricate  rulings;  everything  is  easily  and  quickly  under- 
stood ;  not  the  least  amount  of  time  can  be  lost  in  comprehending  the 
plan,  for  it  is  acquired  at  a  glance. 

The  Three  Different  Styles  Made. 

The  JY©.  1  Style  of  this  List  provides  ample  space  for  the  daily 
record  of  seventy  (TO)  different  names  each  month  for  an  entire  }-ear 
(tAvo  full  pages,  thirty-five  [35]  names  to  a  page,  being  allowed  to  each 
month),  so  that  its  size  is  sufficient  for  an  ordinary  practice ;  but  for 
physicians  who  prefer  a  List  that  will  accommodate  a  larger  practice  we 
have  made  a  JVo.  2  Style,  which  provides  ample  space  for  the  daily 
record  of  one  hundred  and  five  different  names  (105)  each  month  for 
an  entire  3"ear  (three  full  pages  being  allowed  to  each  month),  and  for 
physicians  who  may  prefer  a  Pocket  Record  Book  of  less  thickness  than 
either  of  these  styles  we  have  made  a  JVo.  3  Style,  in  which  "  The 
Blanks  for  the  Recording  of  Visits  In"  have  been  made  into  removable 
sections.  These  sections  are  very  thin,  and  are  made  up  so  as  to  answer 
in  full  the  demand  of  the  largest  practice,  each  section  providing  ample 
space  for  the  daily  record  of  two  hundred  and  ten  (210)  different 
names  for  one  month;  or  one  hundred  and  five  (105)  different  names 
daily  each  month  for  two  months;  or  seventy  (TO)  different  names  daily 
each  month  for  three  months;  or  thirty-five  (35)  different  names  daily 
each  month  for  six  months.  Six  sets  of  these  sections  go  with  each 
copy  of  Xo.  3  Style. 

Special  Features  Not  Found  in  Any  Other  List. 

In  this  No.  3  Style  the  printed  matter,  and  such  matter  as  tht 
blank  forms  for  Addresses  of  Patients,  Obstetric  Record,  Vaccination 
Record,  Cash  Account,  Births  and  Deaths  Records,  etc.,  are  fastened 
permanentl}'  in  the  back  of  the  book,  thus  reducing  its  thickness.  The 
addition  of  one  of  these  removable  sections  does  not  increase  the  size 
quite  an  eighth  of  an  inch.  This  brings  the  book  into  such  a  small  com- 
pass that  no  one  can  object  to  it  on  account  of  its  thickness,  as  its  bulk 

14 


is  vt;ry  much  less  than  that  of  any  visiting  list  ever  published.  Every 
physician  will  at  once  understand  that  as  soon  as  a  section  is  full  it  can 
foe  taken  out,  filed  away,  and  another  inserted  without  the  least  incon- 
venience or  trouble. 

This  Visiting  List  contains  a  Calendar  for  the  .last  six  months 
of  last  year,  all  of  this,  and  next  year;  Table  of  Signs  to  be  used 
in  Keeping  Accounts;  Dr.  Ely's  Obstetrical  Table;  Table  of  Cal- 
culating the  Number  of  Doses  in  a  given  1£,  etc.,  etc. ;  for  converting 
Apothecaries' Weights  and  Measures  into  Grammes;  Metrical  Avoirdu- 
pois and  Apothecaries' "Weights ;  Number  of  Drops  in  a  FluidrachnJ ; 
Graduated  Doses  for  Children;  Graduated  Table  for  Administering 
Laudanum  ;  Periods  of  Eruption  of  the  Teeth  ;  The  A  verage  Frequency 
of  the  Pulse  at  Different  Ages  in  Health;  Formula  and  Doses  of  Hypo- 
dermic Medication;  Use  of  the  Hypodermic  Syringe;  Formula;  and 
Doses  of  Medicine  for  Inhalation  ;  Formulae  for  Suppositories  for  the 
Rectum;  The  Use  of  the  Thermometer  in  Disease;  Poisons  and  their 
Antidotes;  Treatment  of  Asphyxia;  Anti-Emetic  Remedies;  Nasal 
Douches ;  Eye-Washes. 

Most  Convenient  Time-  and  Labor-  Saving  List  Issued. 

It  is  evident  to  every  one  that  this  is,  beyond  question,  the  best  and 
most  convenient  time-  and  labor-  saving  Physicians'  Record  Book  ever 
published.  Physicians  of  many  years'  standing  and  with  large  practices 
pronounce  this  the  Best  List  they  have  ever  seen.  It  is  handsomely 
bound  in  fine,  strong  leather,  with  flap,  including  a  pocket  for  loose 
memoranda,  etc.,  and  is  furnished  with  a  Dixon  lead-pencil  of  excellent 
quality  and  finish.  It  is  compact  and  convenient  for  carrying  in  the 
pocket.     Size,  4  x  6|  inches. 

IN    THREE    STYLES-NET    PRICES,    POST-PAID. 

U.  S.  and  Canada.     Great  Britain. 
Regular  Size,  for  70  patients  daily  each  month  for  one  year,        SS1.25  5s.  3. 

Large  Size,  for  105  patients  daily  each  month  for  one  year,  1.50  6s.  6. 

In  which  "The  Blanks  for  Recording  Visits  in"  are  in  re- 
movable sections,  as  described  above,         -  1.75  7s.  3.       12  fr.  20 


No.  1. 
No.  2. 
No.  3. 


France. 
7  fr.  75 
9  fr.  35 


EXTRACTS    FROM    REVIEWS." 


"  While  each  page  records  only  a  week's  visits, 
yet  by  an  ingenious  device  of  half  leaves  the  names 
of  the  patients  require  to  be  written  but  once  a 
month,  and  a  glance  at  an  opening  of  the  book 
shows  the  entire  visits  paid  to  any  individual  in  a 
month.  It  will  be  found  a  great  convenience." — 
Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 

"Everything  about  it  is  easily  and  quickly 
understood." — Canadian  Practitioner. 

"  Of  the  many  visiting  lists  before  the  profes- 
sion, each  has  some  special  feature  to  recommend 
it.  This  list  is  very  ingeniously  arranged,  as  by  a 
series  of  narrow  leaves  following  a  wider  one,  the 
name  of  the  patient  is  written  but  once  during  the 
month,  while  the  account  can  run  for  thirty-one 
days,  space  being  arranged  for  a  weekly  debit 
and  credit  summary  and  for  special  memoranda. 
The  u?aal  pages  for  cash  account,  obstetrical 
record  addresses,  etc.,  are  included.  A  large 
amoun  1  of  miscellaneous  information  is  presented 
in  a  condensed  form."  —  Occidental  Medical 
Times. 

"It  is  a  monthly  instead  of  a  weekly  record, 
thus  obviating  the  transferring  of  names  oftener 
than  once  a  month.  There  is  a  Dr.  and  Cr.  column 
following  each  week's  record,  enabling  the  doctor 
to  carry  a  patient's  account  for  an  indefinite  time, 
or  until  he  is  discharged,  with  little  trouble." — 
Indiana  Medical  Journal. 


"Accounts  can  begin  and  end  at  any  date. 
Each  name  can  be  entered  for  each  day  of  every 
month  on  the  same  line.  To  accomplish  this,  four 
leaves,  little  more  than  one-third  as  wide  as  the 
usual  leaf  of  the  book,  follow  each  page.  Oppo- 
site is  a  full  page  for  the  recording  of  special 
memoranda  The  usual  accompaniments  of  this 
class  of  books  are  made  out  with  care  and  fitness." 
— The  American  Lancet. 

"This  is  a  novel  list,  and  an  unusually  con- 
venient one." — Journal  of  the  Anier.  Med.  Assoc. 

''This  new  candidate  for  the  favor  of  physi- 
cians possesses  some  unique  and  useful  points. 
The  necessity  of  rewriting  names  every  week  is 
obviated  by  a  simple  contrivance  in  the  make-up 
of  its  pages,  thus  saving  much  valuable  time, 
besides  reducing  the  bulk  of  the  book." — Buffalo 
Medical  and  Sttrgicai  Journal. 

"This  list  is  an  entirely  new  departure,  and 
on  a  plan  that  renders  posting  rapid  and  easy.  It 
is  just  what  we  have  often  wished  for,  and  really 
fills  a  long-felt  want." — The  Medical  Waif. 

"It  certainly  contains  the  largest  amount  of 
practical  knowledge  for  the  medical  practitioner 
in  the  smallest  possible  volume,  besides  enabling 
the  poorest  accountant  to  keep  a  correct  record, 
and  render  a  correct  bill  at.a  moment's  notice." — 
Medical  Chifs. 


r\  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


15 


HMD-BOOK  OF  ECLAMPSIA; 

OK, 

Notes  and  Cases  of  Puerperal  Convulsions. 

UY 

E.  Michener,  M.D.,  J.  H.  Stubbs,  M.D.,  R.  B.  Ewing,  M.D., 

B.  Thompson,  M.D.,  S.  Stebbins,  M.D. 


Price,  in  United  States  and  Canada,  Bound  in  Cloth,  16mo,  Net,  75  Cents;  in  Great 
Eritain,  3  Shillings ;  in  France,  4  fr.  20. 

In  our  medical  colleges  the  teachers  of  Obstetrics  dwell  upon  the  use  of  blood-letting  (phlebotomy)  in 
eases  of  puerperal  convulsions,  and  to  this  method  Dr.  Michener  and  his  fellows  give  their  unqualified 
support— not  to  take  a  prescribed  number  of  ounces,  but  to  bleed/or  effect,  and_/>.'«:  a  large  orifice.  This 
is  i  lainly  and  admirably  set  forth  in  His  book.     To  bleed  requires  a  cutting  instrument,— not  necessarily  a 

lancet . — for  Dr.  M,  states  how  in  one  case  a  pocket-knife  was  used  and  the  desired  effect  produced. 

let  the  young  physician  gather  courage  from  this  little  book,  and  let  the  more  experienced  give  testi- 
mony to  confirm  its  leaching. 


We  have  always  thought  that  this  treatment  was 
indorsed,  approved,  ami  practiced  bj  physioians generally; 
ami  to  sacta  as  •!. . . 1 1 >r  the  efficacy  of  bloo  i  lettin  ■  we  would 
;  thi3  little  volume.   Southern  Clinic. 

Tin.-   authors   arc   Berioualy   Btriving  to  restore    tho 


"losl    art"  of  blood-lotting,  and  we    must   oommend    tlie 
modest}  of  their  endeavor. — North  Carolina  Med.  Jour. 

The  cases  were  ably  analyzed,  and  this  plea  for  vet  - 
section  should  receive  the  most  attentive  consideration  from 
obstetrioians. — Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter. 


JUST     IRIE^JD-Sr. 


A  MANUAL  OF  INSTRUCTION 

FOK   GIVING 

Si  olid  Iffmittf  Massage  Treatment. 

BY 

Prof.   Hartvig  Nissen, 

Director  of  the  Swedish  Health   Institute,   Washington,  D.C.  ;  Late   Instructor  in   Physical  Culture  and 

Gymnastics  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore,  Md.  ;  Author  of 

"  Health  by  Exercise  v.  ithout  Apparatus." 


ILLUSTRATED    WITH  29   ORIGINAL    WOOD-ENGRAVINGS. 


In  One  12mo  Volume  of  12S  Pages.     Neatly  Bound  in  Cloth.     Price, 

post-paid,  in  United  States  and  Canada,  Net,  $1.00;  in 

Great  Britain,  6s.  3d. ;  in  France,  6  fr.  20. 


This  is  the  only  publication  in  the  English  language  treating  this  very  important 
subject  in  a  practical  manner.  Full  instructions  are  given  regarding  the  mode  of 
applying 

The  Swedish  Movement  and  Massage  Treatment 

in  various  diseases  and  conditions  of  the  human  system  with  the  greatest  degree  of 
effectiveness.     Professor  Nibsen  is  the  best  authority  in  the  United  States  upon  this     rai 
tical  phase  of  this  subject,  and  his  book  is  indispensable  to  every  physician  who  wishes  to 
know  how  to  use  these  valuable  handmaids  of  medicine. 


This  manual   is   valuable  to  the    practitioner,   as  it   ' 
contains  a  terse  description  of  a  subject  hrt  too  little  under- 

rantry The  book  ifl  trc*  up  very 

creditably.— .V.  Y.  Med.  Jour, 

The  present  volume  is  a  modest  acennncot  ti.e  appli- 
cation of  the  Swedish  Movement  and  Massage  Treatment. 
in  winch  the  techniqnc  of  tbe  various  proceduresnre  cleariy 
stated  as  well  as  illustrated  in  a  very  excellent  manner. 
— Worth  American  Practitioner. 

This  little  manual  seems  to  be  written  by  an  expert, 
sad  to  those  who  desire  to  know  the  details  connected  with 


the  Swedish  Movement  and  Massage  wo  commend  the 
book. — Practice. 

This  attractive  little  bonk  presents  the  subject  in  a  very 
practical  shape,  and  makes  it  possible  for  every  physician  to 
understand  at  leas;  how  it  is  applied,  if  it  does  not,  jrivehim 
dexterity  in  the  art  of  its  application.  He  can  certainly 
acquire  dexterity  by  following  the  directions  so  plainly  ad- 
vised in  this  book. — Chicago  M..I.  'I"tni<'«. 

It  is  so  practical  and  clear  in  its  demonstrations  that 
if  you  wish  a  work  of  this  nature  you  cannot  do  better  than 
peruse  this  one. — Medical  lirir/. 


u 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


The  Latest  and  Best  Physician's  Account-Book  Ever  Published. 


THE  PHYSICIAN'S 


All-Requisite  Time 
diiii  Labor 


"'  Account-Rook: 


BEING  A  LEDGER  AND  ACCOUNT-BOOK  FOR  PHYSICIANS'  USE,  MEETING  ALL 
THE  REQUIREMENTS  OF  THE  LAW  AND  COURTS. 

DESIGNED   BY 

"^7-IXjJLZ^^I^C   ^.  SEIBERT,   ZMMD., 

Of  Easton,  £=a- 


Probably  no  class  of  people  lose  more  money  through  carelessly  kept 
accounts  and  overlooked  or  neglected  bills  than  physicians.  Often 
detained  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick  until  late  at  night,  or  deprived  of 
even  a  modicum  of  rest,  it  is  with  great  difficulty  that  he  spares  the 
time  or  puts  himself  in  condition  to  give  the  same  care  to  his  own 
financial  interests  that  a  merchant,  a  lawyer,  or  even  a  farmer  devotes. 
It  is  then  plainly  apparent  that  a  system  of  ^okkeeping  and  accounts 
uhat,  without  sacrificing  accuracy,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  ensuring  it,  at 
the  same  time  relieves  the  keeping  of  a  physician's  book  of  half  their 
complexity  and  two-thirds  the  labor,  is  a  convenience  which  will  be 
eagerly  welcomed  by  thousands  of  overworked  physicians.  Such  a  sys- 
tem has  at  last  been  devised,  and  we  take  pleasure  in  offering  it  to  the 
profession  in  the  form  of  The  Physician's  All-Requisite  Time-  and 
Labor-  Saving  Account-Book. 

There  is  no  exaggeration  in  stating  that  this  Account-Book  and 
Ledger  reduces  the  labor  of  keeping  your  accounts  more  than  one-half, 
and  at  the  same  time  secures  the  greatest  degree  of  accuracy.  We  may 
mention  a  few  of  the  superior  advantages  of  The  Physician's  All- 
Requisite  Time-  and  Labor-  Saving  Account-Book,  as  follow: — 


First — Will  meet  all  the  requirements  of 
the  law  and  courts. 

Second — Self-explanatory ;  no  cipher  code. 

Third — Its  completeness  without  sacrificing 
anything. 

Fourth — No  posting ;  one  entry  only. 

Fifth — Universal ;  can  be  commenced  at  any 
time  of  year,  and  can  be  continued  in- 
definitely until  every  account  is  filled. 

Sixth — Absolutely  no  waste  of  space. 

Seventh — One  person  must  needs  be  sick 
every  day  of  the  year  to  fill  his  account, 
or  might  be  ten  years  about  it  and  re- 
quire no  more  than  the  space  for  one 
account  in  this  ledger. 

Eighth — Double  the  number  and  many  times 
more  than  the  number  of  accounts   in 


any  similar  book;  the  300-page  book 
contains  space  for  900  accounts,  and  the 
600-page  book  contains  space  for  1800 
accounts. 

Ninth — There  are  no  smaller  spaces. 

Tenth — Compact  without  sacrificing  com- 
pleteness; every  account  complete  cai 
same  page — a  decided  advantage  and 
recommendation. 

Eleventh — Uniform  size  of  leaves. 

Twelfth — The  statement  of  the  most  com- 
plicated account  is  at  once  before  you 
at  any  time  of  month  or  year — in  other 
words,  the  account  itself  as  it  stands  is 
its  simplest  statement. 

Thirteenth- — No  transferring  of  accounts, 
balances,  etc. 


To  all  physicians  desiring  a  quick,  accurate,  and  comprehensive 
method  of  keeping  their  accounts,  we  can  safely  say  that  no  book  as 
suitable  as  this  one  has  ever  been  devised. 

A.   descriptive   circular   showing   ttie   plan   of  the   book   will   be 
sent    on    application. 


NET  PRICES,  SHIPPING-  EXPENSES  PREPAID. 


No.  1.  300  Pages,  for  900  Accounts  per  Year, 
Size  10x13,  Bound  in  ^-Kussia,  Raised 
Back-Bands,  Cloth.  Sides,        ... 

No.  2.  600  Pages,  for  1800  Accounts  per  Year, 
Size  10x12,  Bound  in  %-Kussia,  Raised 
Back-Bands,  Clotli  Sides, 


In  U.  S. 

Canada 

(duty  paid). 

Great 
Britain. 

France. 

S5.00 

S5.50 

28s. 

30  fr.  30 

S.00 

8.S0 

42s. 

49  fr.  40 

{F.  A.  DAI/IS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa,   U.S.A.) 


PHYSICIANS'  INTERPRETER 

IN   FOUR  LANGUAGES. 

(ENGLISH,  FRENCH,  GERMAN.  AND  ITALIAN.) 


Specially  Arranged  for  Diagnosis  by  M.  von  V. 


The  object  of  this  little  work  is  to  meet  a  need  often  keenly  felt  by 
the  busy  physician,  namely,  the  need  of  some  quick  and  reliable  method 
of  communicating  intelligibly  with  patients  of  those  nationalities  and 
languages  unfamiliar  to  the  practitioner.  The  plan  of  the  book  is  ;i  sys- 
tematic arrangement  of  questions  upon  the  various  branches  of  Practical 
Medicine,  and  each  question  is  so  worded  that  the  only  answer  required 
of  the  patient  is  merely  Yes  or  No.  The  questions  are  all  numbered, 
and  a  complete  Index  renders  them  always  available  for  quick  reference. 
The  book  is  written  by  one  who  is  well  versed  in  English,  French,  Ger- 
man, and  Italian,  being  an  excellent  teacher  in  all  those  languages,  and 
who  has  also  had  considerable  hospital  experience. 

Bound  in  Full  Russia  Leather,  for  Carrying  in  the  Pocket.  (Size,  5x2J 

Inches.)     206  Pages.  •    Price,  post-paid,  in  United  States  and 

Canada,  $1.00,  net;  Great  Britain,  4s.  6d. ;  France,  6  fr.  20. 


Phv 


To  conve}r  some  idea  of  the  scope  of  the  questions  contained  in  the 
•sicians'  Interpreter,  we  append  the  Index  : — 


General  health i-  50 

Special  diet 31-  47 

Age  of  patient 52-  62 

Necessity  of  patients  undergoing  an  opera- 
tion   63-  70 

Office  hours 7i-  77 

Days  of  the  week 78-  84 

v^cient's  history:  hereditary  affections  in  his 
femily;  his   occupation;    diseases   from 

his  childhood  up 85-130 

months  of  the  year. 106-117 

Seasons  of  the  year 118-121 

Symptoms  of  typhoid  fever ...131-158 

Symptoms  of  Bright's  disease 159-168 

Symptoms  of  lung  diseases 169-194  and  311-312 

Vertigo 195-201 

The  eyes ■ 201-232 

Paralysis  and  rheumatism 236-260 

Stomach  complaints  and  chills 261-269 


Falls  and  fainting  spells 271-277 

How  patient's  illness  began,  and  when  pa- 
tient was  first  taken  sick 278-279 

Names  for  various  parts  of  the  body 283-299 

The  liver 300-301 

The  memory 3°4-3°5 

Bites,  stings,  pricks 314-316 

Eruptions 317-31S 

Previous  treatment 319 

Symptoms  of  lead-poisoning 320-374 

Hemorrhages 325-328 

Burns  and  sprains 33°-33i 

The  throat , 332"335 

The  ears 33°-339 

General    directions    concerning     medicines, 
baths,     bandaging,    gargling,     painting 

swelling,  etc 34°-373 

Numbers pages  202-204 


The  work  is  well  dono,  and  calculated  to  be  of  great 
service  to  those  who  wish  to  acquire  familiarity  with  the 
used  ir.  questioning  patients.  More  than  this,  we 
believe  it  would  t»o  a  great  help  in  acquiring  a  vocabulary 
to  be  used  in  reading  medical  books,  and  that  it  would  fur- 
nish an  excellent  basis  for  beginning  a  study  of  any  one  of 
the  languages  which  it  includes.— Medical  mi. I  Surgical 
Reporter. 

Many  other  books  of  the  same  sort,  with  more  ex- 
tensive vocabularies,  have  been  published,  but,  from  their 
site,  and  from  their  being  usually  dovoted  to  equivalents 
in  English  and  one  other  language  only,  they  have  not  had 
the  advantage  which  is  pre-em  loot  in  this  -convenience. 
It  is  handsomely  printed,  and  hound  in  flexible  red  leather 
In  the  form  of  a  diary.  It  would  Brandy  make  itself  felt 
in  one's  hip-pocket,  and  would  insure  its  hearer  aga  i 
ordinary  conversational  difficulty  in  dealing  with  foreign- 
gpenking  people,  who  are  constantly  coming  into  our  city 
hospitals.— tmc  York  Medical  Journal. 

In  our  larger  cities,  and  in  the  whole  Northwest,  the 
physician  is  constantly  meeting  with  immigrant  patients. 
to  whom  it  is  difficult  for  him  to  make  himself  understood, 
or  to  know  what  they  say  in  return.    This  difficulty  will 


be  greatly  obviated  by  use  of  this  little  work.—  The  Phy- 
and  Surgeon. 

The  phrases  are  well  selected,  and  one  might  practice 
long  without  requiring  more  of  these  languages  than  this. 
little  1 i.  furnishes.— Phila.  Medical  Timet. 

How  ofUn  the  physician  is  called  to  attend  thosv  with 
whom  the  English  language  is  unfamiliar,  and  man;,  phy- 
sicians are  thus  deprived  of  the  means,  Bave  throned  an 
interpreter,  of  arriving  at  a  correct  knowledge  on  which  to 
base  a  diagnosis.     An  interpreter  is  not  always  at  hand, 

but  with  this  1 ket  interpreter  in  your  hand  you  are  able 

1 1.  all  therjuestiou8  necessary,  and   receive  the  answer 

in  snoh  manner  that  rou  will  be  able  to  fully  comprehend, 
— Tlu  Medical  Brief. 

This  little  volume  is  one  of  the  most  ingenious  aid* 
to  the  physician  which  we  have  seen.  We  heartily  com' 
mend  the  book  to  any  one  who.  being  without  a  knowledge 
.M:.  i  ireign  languages,  is  obliged  totreat  those  who  dt 
not  know  our  own  language.— .SV.  Louit  Courier  of  Medi 
cine. 

<"  It  will  rapidly  supersede,  for  the  praotical  use  of  tli/ 
doctor  who  cannot  take  the  time  to  learn  another  language 
all  ether  suggestive  works.— Chicago  Medical  Times. 


18 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


An  Important  Aid  to  Students  in  the  Study  of  Anatomy. 


Three  Charts  op 


The  Nervo-Vascular  System. 

PART  I.— THE  NERVES. 

JPAliT  II.— THE  ARTERIES. 

PART  III.— THE  VEINS. 

Arranged  by  W.  HENRY  PRICE,  A.M.,  M.D.,  AND  S.  POTTS  EAGLETON. 
ENDORSED  BY  LEADING  ANATOMISTS. 


PRICE,  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA,  50  CENTS,  NET,   COMPLETE; 
GREAT  BRITAIN,  2s.  6d.     FRANCE,  3  fr.  60. 


"  THE  NERVO-VASC  ULAB  SYSTEM  OF  CHASTS  "  far  Excels  Every  Other  System 
in  their  Completeness,  Compactness,  and  Accuracy. 


I*avt  I.  The  Nerves. — Gives  in  a  clear  form  not  only  the  Cranial 
and  Spinal  Nerves,  showing  the  formation  of  the  different  Plexuses 
and  their  branches,  but  also  the  complete  distribution  of  the 
Sympathetic  Nerves,  thereby  making  it  the  most  complete  and 
concise  chart  of  the  Nervous  System  }Tet  published. 

Part  II.  The  Arteries. — Gives  a  unique  grouping  of  the  Arterial 
System,  showing  the  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  all  the  vessels, 
beginning  from  the  heart  and  tracing  their  continuous  distribution 
to  the  periphery,  and  showing  at  a  glance  the  terminal  branches 
of  each  artery. 

Part  III.  The  Veins. — Shows  how  the  blood  from  the  periphery 
of  the  body  is  gradually  collected  by  the  larger  veins,  and  these 
coalescing  forming  still  larger  vessels,  until  the}'  finally  trace 
themselves  into  the  Right  Auricle  of  the  heart. 

It  is  therefore  readily  seen  that  "  The  Nervo-Vascular  System  of 
Charts"  offers  the  following  superior  advantages: — 

1.  It  is  the  only  arrangement  which  combines  the  Three  Systems, 
and  yet  each  is  perfect  and  distinct  in  itself. 

2.  It  is  the  only  instance  of  the  Cranial,  Spinal,  and  Sj'mpathetic 
Nervous  Systems  being  represented  on  one  chart. 

3.  From  its  neat  size  and  clear  type,  and  being  printed  only  upon 
one  side,  it  may  be  tacked  up  in  any  convenient  place,  and  is  always 
read}7  for  freshening  up  the  memory  and  reviewing  for  examination. 

&  4.  The  nominal  price  for  which  these  charts  are  sold  places  them 
within  the  reach  of  all. 


For  the  student  of  anatomy  there  can  possibly  be  no 
more  concise  way  of  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  nerves, 
veins,  and  arteries  of  the  human  system.  It  presents  at  a 
glance  their  trunks  and  branches  in  the  great  divisions  of 
the  body.  It  will  save  a  world  of  tedious  reading,  and  will 
impress  itself  on  the  mind  as  no  ordinary  eade  ihecurn, 
even,  could.  Its  price  is  nominal  and  its  value  inestima- 
ble. No  student  should  be  without  it. — Pacific  Record  qf 
Medicine  and  Surgery. 

We  take  pleasure  in  calling  attention  to  these  charts, 
as  they  are  so  arranged  that  a  study  of  them  will  serve  to 
impress  them  more  indellibly  on  your  mind  than  can  be 
gained  in  any  other  way.  They  are  also  valuable  for 
reference. — Medical  Brief. 

These  are  three  admirably  arranged  charts  for  the 
use  of  students,  to  assist  in  memorizing  their  anatomical 
Studies. — Buffalo  Med.  and  Surg.  Jour.  (" 

This  is  a  series  of  charts  of  the  nerves,  arteries,  and 


veins  of  the  human  body,  giving  names,  origins,  distribu- 
tions, and  functions,  very  convenient  as  memorizers  and 
reminders.  A  similar  series,  prepared  by  the  late  J.  H. 
Armsby,  of  Albany,  N.T..  and  framed,  long  found  a  place 
in  the  study  of  the  writer,  and  on  more  than  one  occasion 
was  the  means  of  saving  precious  moments  that  must 
otherwise  have  been  devoted  to  tumbling  the  pages  of  ana- 
tomical works. — Med.  Age. 

These  three  charts  will  be  of  great  assistance  to 
medical  students.  They  can  be  hung  on  the  wall  and  read 
across  any  ordinary  room.  The  price  is  only  fifty  cents  for 
the  set. — Practice. 

These  charts  have  been  carefully  arranged,  and  will 
prove  to  be  very  convenient   for  ready  reference.    They 

are  three  in  number,  each  constituting  a  part 

It  is  a  high  recommendation  that  these  charts  have  been 
examined" and  approved  by  John  B.  Deaver.  M.D..  Demon- 
strator of  Anatomy  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. — 
Pacific  Med.  and  'Surg.  Jour,  and  Western  Lancet. 


(F.  A.  DAVIS  Medical  Publisher  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


IS 


Fever:  Its  Pathology  and 
Treatment. 

Being  the  Boylston  Prize  Essay  of  Www  a.rd  University  for  1890. 
Containing  Directions  and  the  Latest  [nformation  Concerning  the 
Use  of  the  So-Called  A.ntepyretics  in  Fever  and  Pain.  By  HOBART 
AMORY  HARE,  M.D.  (  Univ.  of  Penna.),  B.Sc,  Clinical  Professor  of  the 
Diseases  of  Children  and  Demonstrator  of  Therapeutics  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania;  Physician  to  Si.  Agnes'  Hospital  anil  to  the 
Children's  Dispensary  of  the  Children's  Eospital ;  Laureate  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Medicine  in  Belgium,  of  the  Medical  Society  of  London,  etc. ; 
Member  of  the  Association  of  American  Physicians. 

No.  10  in  the  Physicians'  and  Students'  Ready-Reference  Series. 
12mo.     Neatly  bound  in  Dark-blue  Cloth. 

Illustrated  with  more  than  25  new  plates  of  tracings  of'various  fever 
cases,  showing  beautifully  and  accurately  the  action  of  the  antipyretics. 
The  work  will  also  contain  35  carefully  prepared  statistical  tables  of 
249  cases  showing  the  untoward  effects  of  the  antipyretics. 

Price  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  post-paid,  $1.25  Net; 
Great  Britain,  Ss.  6d. ;  France,  7  fr.  75. 


JUST    IS&HED 


PHYSICIANS'   AND   STUDENTS'    READY-REFERENCE   SERIES 
3STo.   -4. 

The  Neuroses  of  the  Geraito-Urinary  System 

IN  THE  MALE, 
WITH  STERILITY  AND   I3IPOTENCE. 

BY 

DR.     R.     ULTZMANN, 

Professor  of  Genito-Urinary  Diseases  in  the  University  of  Vienna. 
TRANSLATED,  WITH   THE  AUTHOR'S  PERMISSION,  BY 

GARDNER  W.  ALLEN,  M.D., 

Surgeon   in   the  Genito-Urinaky   Department   Boston   Dispensary. 


Illustrated.    12mo.   Handsomely  Bound  in  Dark-Blue  Cloth.   Net  Price,  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  $1.00,  Post-paid  ;  Great  Britain,  4s.  6d.  ;  France,  6  fr.  20. 


This  great  work  upon  a  subject  which,  notwithstanding  the  great  strides  that  have 
been  made  in  its  investigation  and  the  deep  interest  it  possesses  for  all,  is  nevertheless 
still  but  imperfectly  understood,  has  been  translated  in  a  most  perfect  manner,  and  pre- 
serves most  fully  the  inherent  excellence  aud  fascinating  style  of  its  renowned  and 
lamented  author.  Full  and  complete,  yet  terse  and  concise,  it  handles  the  subject  with 
such  a  vigor  of  touch,  such  a  clearness  of  detail  and  description,  and  such  a  directness  to 
the  result,  that  no  medical  man  who  once  takes  it  up  will  be  content  to  lay  it  down  until 
its  perusal  is  complete, — nor  will  one  reading  be  enough. 

Professor  Ultzmann  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  greatest  authorities  in  his  chosen 
specialty,  and  it  is  a  little  singular  that  so  few  of  his  writings  have  been  translated  into 
English.  Those  who  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  benefit  by  h:s  instruction  at  the  Vienna 
Polyclinic  can  testify  to  the  soundness  of  his  pathological  teachings  and  the  success  of  his 
ids  of  treatment.  He  approached  the  subject  from  a  somewhat  different  point  of 
view  from  most  surgeons,  and  this  gives  a  peculiar  value  to  the  work.  It  is  believed, 
moreover,  that  there  is  jo  convenient  hand-book  in  English  treating  in  a  broad  manner 
the  Genito-urinary  Neuroses. 

SYNOPSIS  OF  CONTENTS.     First  Part.— I.  Chemical  Changes  in  the  Urine  in 
of  Neuroses.  .  II.  The  Neuroses  of  the  Urinary  and  of  the  Sexual  Organs,  classi- 
:  1,  Sensory  Neuroses  ;  2,  Motor  Neuroses ;  3,  Secretory  Neuroses.    Second  Part.— 
Sterility  and  Impotence. 

The  Treatment  in  all  Cases  is  Described  Clearly  and.  Minutely. 


(F.  A.  DA'.'IS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


Hay  Fever 


ITS   SUCCESSFUL    TREATMENT    BY   SUPERFICIAL   ORGANIC 
ALTERATION  OF  THE  NASAL  MUCOUS  MEMBRANE. 


CHARLES  E.  SAJOUS,  M.»., 

Lecturer  on  Rhinology  and  laryngology  in  Jefferson  Medical  College;  Vice-President  of  Hie  American  Larytl 
Association;  Officer  of  the  Academy  of  France  nod  of  Public  Instruction  of  Venezuela;  Corresponding 

Member  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Belgium,  of  tho  Medical   Society  of  Warsaw  (Pol  in    ), 

and  of  the  Society  of  Hygiene  of  France;  Member  of  the  American 

Philosophical  Society,  etc.,  etc. 


WITH    13    ENGRAVINGS    ON    WOOD.       12mo.      BOUND    IN    CLOTH.     BEVELED 

EDGES.     PRICE,    IN    UNITED   STATES    AND   CANADA,    NET,  «1.00- 

GREAT   BRITAIN,  4s,    66..;    FRANCE,    G  fr.  20. 


The  object  of  this  little  work  is  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  general 
practitioner  the  means  to  treat  successfully  a  disease  which,  until  lately, 
was  considered  as  incurable;  its  history,  causes,  pathology,  and  treat- 
ment are  carefully  described,  and  the  latter  is  so  arranged  as  to  be 
practicable  by  any  physician. 


Dr.  Sajous'  volume  must  command  the  attention  of 
those  called  upon  to  treat  this  heretofore  intractable  com- 
plaint.— Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter. 

Few  have  had  the  success  in  this  disease  which  has 
so  much  baffled  the  average  practitioner  as  Dr.  Sajous,  con- 
sequently his  statements  are  almost  authoritative.  The 
book  must  be  read  to  be  appreciated. — American  Medical 
Digest. 

Dr.  Sajous  has  admirably  presented  the  subject,  and, 
a-c  this  method  of  treatment  is  now  generally  recognized 
as  efficient,  we  can  recommend  this  book  to  all  physicians 


who  are  called  upon  to  treat  this  troublesome  disorder.— 
The  Buffalo  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 

The  symptoms,  etiology,  pathology,  and  treatment  of 
'Hay  Fever  are  fully  and  ably  discussed.  The  reader  will 
not  regret  the  expenditure  of  the  small  purchase  price  of 
this  work  if  he  has  cases  of  the  kind  to  treat. — California 
Medical  Journal. 

We  are  pleased  with  the  author's  views,  and  heartily 
commend  his  book  to  the  consideration  of  the  profession. 
—  Tlie  Southern,  Clinic. 


PHYSICIANS'   AND   STUDENTS*   READY    REFERENCE   SERIES 

zInTo.    1.  = 


By  JOHN  S.  STEWART,  M.D., 

Demonstrator  of  Obstetrics  and  Chief  Assistant  in  the  Gynaecological  Clinic  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical 

College  of  Philadelphia. 

WITH  AN   INTRODUCTORY   NOTE  BY 

WILLIAM  S.  STEWART,  A.M.,  M.D., 

Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Gynaecology  in  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College  of  Philadelphia. 


42  ILLUSTRATIONS.    202  PAGES.    12 mo.    HANDSOMELY  BOUND  IN  DARK-SLUE  CLOTH. 

Price,  Post-paid,  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  Net,  $1.00 ; 
Great  Britain,  4s.  6d. ;  France,  6  fr.  20. 


By  students  this  work  will  be  found  particularly  useful.  It  is  based 
upon  the  teachings  of  such  well-known  authors  as  Playfair,  Parvin, 
Lush,  Galabin,  and  Cazeaux  and  Tarnier,  and,  besides  containing  much 
new  and  important  matter  of  great  value  to  both  student  and  practi- 
tioner, embraces  in  an  Appendix  the  Obstetrical  Nomenclature  sug- 
gested by  Professor  Simpson,  of  Edinburgh,  and  adopted  by  the 
Obstetric  Section  of  the  Ninth  International  Medical  Congress  held  in 
Washington,  D.C.,  September,  1887. 


It  is  well  written,  excellently  illustrated,  and  fully  up 
to  date  in  every  respect.  Here  we  find  all  the  essentials  of 
Obstetrics  in  a  nutshell,  Anatomy,  Embryology,  Physi- 
ology, Pregnancy,  Labor,  Puerperal  State,  and  Obstetric 
Operations  all  being  carefully  and  accurately  described. — 
Buffalo  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 

It  is  clear  and  concise.  The  chapter  on  the  develop- 
ment of  the  ovum  is  especial! y  satisfactory.  The  judicious 


use  of  bold-faced  type  for  headings  and  italics  for  impor- 
tant statements,  gives  the  took  a  pleasing  typographical 
appearance. — Medical  Record. 

This  volume  is  done  with  a  masterly  hand.  The 
scheme  is  an  excellent  one.  .  .  .  The  whole  is  freely 
and  most  admirably  illustrated  with  well-dravm.  new 
engravings,  and  the  book  is  of  a  very  convenient  sii«.— 
St.  Louis  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 


(F-   A.  DAVIS,   Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.)  n 


DIPHTHERIA: 

Croup,  Tracheotomy,  ^  Intubation 

FROM    THE    FRENCH    OF   A.   SANNE. 


TRANSLATED  AND  ENLARGED  BY 


HENRY    Z.    GILL,    M.D.,    LL.D. 


Net  Price,  Post-paid,  Cloth,    - 
"  "        Leather, 


United  States. 

-  $4.C0. 
5.00. 


Canada  (duty  paid). 

$140. 

5.50. 


Great  Britain. 

£  0.17s. 
1.  Is. 


France. 

24  fr.  60 
30  fr.  30 


The  above  work,  recently  issued,  is  a  translation  from  the  French  of  Sanne's  great 
work  theria,"  by  EL  Z.  Gill,  late  Professor  of  Surgery  in  Cleveland,  Oh 

directly  or  indirectly,  by  every  writer  since  its  publication, 
as  the  high-'-:  authority,  statistically,  theoretically,  and  practically.  The  translator, 
having  cial  Btudy  to  the  subject  for  many  years!  has  added  over  fifty  pages,  in- 

cluding :  Lnatomy,  Intubation,  and    the   recent  progress  in   tl  ■     b 

i  down  to  the  present  date;  making  it,  beyond  question,  the  most  complete  work 
on  the  subject  of  Diphtheria  in  the  English  language. 

le-page  is  found  a  very  fine  Colored  Lithograph  Plate  of  the  parts  o  m« 
cerned  in  Tracheotomy.  Next  follows  an  illustration  of  a  cast  of  the  entire  Trachea,  and 
bronchi  to  the  third  or  fourth  division,  in  one  piece,  taken  from  a  photograph  of 

h  the  cast  was  expelled  during  life  from  a  patient  sixteen  years  old.     This  is  the 
most  complete  ca<t  of  any  one  recorded. 

Over  fifty  other  illustrations  of  the  surgical  anatomy  of  instruments,  etc.,  add  to  the 
practical  value  of  the  work. 

Diphtheria   having   become   such   a  prevalent,  wide-spread,  and  fatal  disease,  no 
general  practitioner  can  afford  to  be  without  this  work.     It  will  aid  in  preventive 

stimulate  promptness  in  the  application  of,  and  efficiency  in,  treatment,  and 
moderate  the  extravagant  views  which  have  been  entertained  regarding  certain  specifics 
in  the  disease  Diphtheria. 

A  full  Index  accompanies  the  enlarged  volume,  also   a   List  of   Authors,  making 
altogether  a  very  handsome  illustrated  volume  of  over  680  pages. 


In  this  book  we  have  a  complete  review  and 
compendium  of  all  worth  preserving  that  has  hitherto 
been  said  or  written  concerning  diphtheria  and  the 
kindred  subjects  treated  of  by  our  author,  collated, 
arranged,  and  commented  on  by  both  author  and 
translator.  The  subject  of  intubation,  so  recently 
revived  in  this  country,  receives  a  very  careful  and 
impartial  discussion  at  the  hands  of  the  translator, 
and  a  most  valuable  chapter  on  the  prophylaxis  of 
diphtheria  and  croup  closes  the  volume. 

His  notes  are  frequent  and  full,  displaying  deep 
knowledge  of  the  subject-matter.  Altogether  the 
book  is  one  that  is  valuable  and  timely,  and  one 
that  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  general  practi- 
tioner.— St.  Louis  Med.  and  Surgical  Journal. 


Sanne's  work  is  quoted,  directly  or  indirectly, 
by  many  writers  since  its  publication,  as  the  highest 
authority,  statistically,  theoretically,  and  practi- 
cally. The  translator,  having  given  special  study 
to  the  subject  for  many  years,  has  added  over  fifty 
pages,  including  the  surgical  anatomy,  intubation, 
and  the  recent  progress  in  the  branches  treated, 
down  to  the  present  date;  m;tking  it,  beyond  ques- 
tion, the  most  complete  work  extant  on  the  subject 
of  diphtheria  in  the  English  language.  Diphtheria 
having  become  such  a  prevalent,  wide-spread,  and 
fatal  disease,  no  general  practitioner  can  afford  to 
be  without  this  work.  It  will  aid  in  preventive 
measures,  stimulate  promptness  in  application  of,  and 
efficiency  in,  treatment. — Southern  Practitioner. 


STANTON'S  PRACTICAL  AND  SCIENTIFIC  PHYSIOGNOMY 


MOW    TO    P^EjQlXD    FACES, 

By  MARY  OLMSTED  STANTON. 


Copiously   Illustrated. 


Two  I^arjje  Octavo   "Volumes. 

United  States.       Canada  (duty  paid).       Great  Britain.  France. 

Price,  per  Volume,  Cloth,  85. OO  !*.",.. ",()  SI. Is.  30  fr.  30 

..  ••  Sheep,  6.00  0.00  l.Os.  3G  fr.  40 

«  "  Half-Knssia,  7.00  7.70  1.9s.  43  fr.  30 

$1.00  Discount  for  Cash.    Sold  only  by  Subscription,  or  sent  direct  on  receipt  of  price,  shipping  expenses  prepaid. 


The  author,  Mrs.  Mary  O.  Stanton,  has  given  over  twenty  years  to  the  preparation  of  this  work.  Her 
style  Is  easy,  and,  by  her  happy  method  of  illustration  of  every  point,  the  book  reads  like  a  novel,  and 
memorizes  itself.  To  physicians  the  diagnostic  information  conveyed  is  invaluable.  To  the  general 
reader  each  page  opens  a  new  train  of  ideas.     (This  book  has  no  reference  whatever  to  Phrenology.) 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


New  Edition  of  an  Important  and  Tim&ly  Work  Just  Published. 

Electricity  in  the  Diseases  of  ^fomen, 

"With  Special  Reference  to  the  Application  of  Strong  Currents. 

By  G.  BETTON  MASSEY,  M.D., 

Physician  to  the  Gynecological  Department  of  Howard   Hospital,   Late  Electro-Therapeutist  to  the  Phila- 
delphia  Orthopaedic   Hospital   and   Infirmary   for  Nervous    Diseases  ;    Member  of  the  American 
Neurological  Ass'n,  of  the  Philadelphia  Neurological  bociety,  of  the  Franklin  Institute, etc. 


Second    Edition.. 


K.eTrisecT.    a-an-d. 


ZEzxlo.xrjfed.. 

WITH  NEW  AND  ORIGINAL  WOOD-ENGRAVINGS.     HANDSOMELY  BOUND  IN  CLOTH.     OVER  200  PAGEa 

12mo.        Price,   in  United  States  and  Canada,   $1.00,  net,   poat-paid. 

In  Great  Britain,  5a.  6d.    In  France,  9  fr.  35. 


This  work  is  presented  to  the  profession  as  the  most  complete  treatise  yi '  issued  on 
the  electrical  treatment  of  diseases  of  women,  and  is  destined  to  fill  the  increasii.^  demand 
for  clear  and  practical  instruction  in  the  handling  and  use  of  strong  currents  after  the 
recent  methods  first  advocated  by  Apostoli.  The  whole  subject  is  treated  from  the  present 
stand-point  of  electric  science  with  new  and  original  illustrations,  the  thorough  studies  of 
the  author  and  his  wide  clinical  experience  rendering  him  an  authority  upon  electricity 
'itself  and  its  therapeutic  applications.  The  author  has  enhanced  the  practical  value  of 
die  work  by  including  the  exact  details  of  treatment  and  results  in  a  number  of  cases 
taken  from  his  private  and  hospital  practice. 


Fig.  is. — Author's  Fibroid  Spear. 


Fig.  i8, — Ball  Electrode  for  Administering  Franklinic  Sparks. 


C03STTE3iTa?S 

Chapter  I,  Introductory  ;  II,  Apparatus  required  in  gynecological  applications  of  the  galvanic  current ; 
III,  Experiments  illustrating  the  physical  qualities  of  galvanic  currents ;  IV,  Action  of  concentrated  gal- 
vanic currents  on  organized  tissues  ;  V,  Intra-uterine  galvano-chemical  cauterization;  VI,  Operative  details 
of  pelvic  electro-puncture;  VII,  The  faradic  current  in  gynecology  ;  VIII,  The  franklinic  current  in  gyne- 
cology ;  IX,  Non-caustic  vaginal,  urethral,  and  rectal  applications  ;  X,  General  percutaneous  applications  in 
the  treatment  of  nervous  women ;  XI,  The  electrical  treatment  of  fibroid  tumors  of  the  uterus  ;  XII,  The 
electrical  treatment  of  uterine  hemorrhage;  XIII,  The  electrical  treatment  of  subinvolution;  XIV,  The 
electrical  treatment  of  chronic  endometritis  and  chronic  metritis  ;  XV,  The  electrical  treatment  of  chronic 
diseases  of  the  uterus  and  appendages;  XVI,  Electrical  treatment  of  pelvic  pain;  XVII,  The  electrical 
treatment  of  uterine  displacements;  XVIII,  The  electrical  treatment  of  extra-uterine  pregnancy;  XIX, 
The  electrical  treatment  of  certain  miscellaneous  conditions  ;  XX,  The  contra-indications  and  limitations  to 
the  use  of  strong  currents. 

An  Appendix  and  a  Copious  Index,  including  the  definitions  of  terms  used  in  the  work,  concludes 
the  book. 


The  author  gives  us  what  he  has  seen,  and  of  which 

he  is  assured  by  scientific  study  is  correct We 

are  certain  that  this  little  work  will  prove  helpful  to  all 
physicians  who  desire  to  use  electricity  in  the  management 
of  the  diseases  of  wotnou. —  The  American  Lancet. 

To  say  that  the  author  is  rather  conservative  in  his 
ideas  of  the  curative  powers  of  electricity  is  only  another 
way  of  saying  that  he  understands  his  subject  thoroughly. 
The  mild  enthusiasm  of  our  author  is  unassailable,  because 
it  is  founded  ou  science  and  reared  with  experience. — The 
Meiliral  Analectic. 

The  work  is  well  written,  exceedingly  practical,  and 
can  be  trusted.  We  commend  it  to  the  profession." — Mary- 
land Medical  Journal. 

The  book  is  one  which  should  be  possessed  by  every 
physician  who  treats  diseases  of  women  by  electricity. — 
The  Brooklyn  Medical  Journal. 

The  departments  of  electro-physics,  pathology,  and 
electro-therapeutioa  are  thoroughly  and  admirably  con- 


sidered, and  by  means  of  good  wood-cuts  the  beginner  has 
before  his  eye  the  exact  method  of  work  required. — The 
Medical  Register. 

"  The  author  of  this  little  volume  of  210  pages  ought 
to  have  added  to  its  title,  "  and  a  most  hay  •  -...-         - 

upon  the  methods  of  using  this  medicinal  s gent :  "  for  in 
the  first  100  pages  he  has  "contrived  to  descrite  the  techni 
of  electrization  in  as  clear  and  happy  a  manner  as  no 
author  has  ever  succeeded  in  doing,  and'  for  this  part  of  the 
book  alone  it  is  almost  priceless"  to  the  beginner  in  the 

treatment  with  this  agent The  "little  book  is 

worthy  the  perusal  of  every  one  at  all  interested  in  the 
subject  of  electricity  in  medicine.— The  Omaha  Clinic. 

The  treatment" of  fibroid  tumor  of  the  uterus  will, 
perhaps,  interest  the  profession  more  generally  than  any 
other  question.  This  subject  has  teen  accorded  ample 
space.  The  method  of  treatment  in  many  cases  has  been 
recited  in  detail,  the  results  in  every  instance  reported  be- 
ing beneficial,  and  in  many  curative. — Pacific  Med.  Jour. 


12 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia.  Pa.,  U.S. A. J 


-. JUST   PUBLISHED.: 


THE  PHYSIOLOGY 

OF  THE 

Domestic  Animals. 

A  TEXT-BOOK  FOR  VETERINARY  AND  MEDICAL 
STUDENTS   AND   PRACTITIONERS. 

ROBERT  MEADE  SMITH,  A.M.,  M.D.. 

Professor  of  Comparative  Physiology  iii  University  of  Pennsylvania;  Fellow  of  :he  College  of  Physician! 

and  Academy  of  the  N.iuir.,1  Sciences,  Phil  a  lelphia  :  of  the  American  Physiological 

Society  ;  of  the  American  Society  of  Naturalists  ;  Associe  Euaager 

de  la  Societe  Francaise  D'  Hygiene,  etc 


^ 


Fig.  117.— Parotid  and  Submaxillary  Fisti'l*  »n  the  Horse,  after  Colin. 

(Thanhojfcr  and  Tormay.) 

K,  K',  rubber  bulbs  for  collecting  saliva ;  en,  cannula  in  the  parotid  duct. 


In  One  Handsome  Royal  Octavo  Volume  of  over  950  Pages,  Pro- 
fusely Illustrated   v/ith   more   than    400   Fine   "Wood- 
Engravings  and  many  Colored  Plates. 

United  States. 

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Canada  (duty  paid). 

Groat  Britain. 

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$5.50 

21s. 

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6.60 

24s. 

36  fr.  20. 

■THIS  new  and  important  work,  the  moat  thoroughly  complete  in  the  English  language 
on  this  subject,  has  just  been  issued.  In  it  the  physiology  of  the  domestic  animals 
is  treated  in  a  most  comprehensive  manner,  especial  prominence  being  given  to  the  sub- 
ject of  foods  and  fodders,  and  the  character  of  the  diet  for  the  herbivora  under  different 
conditions,  with  a  full  consideration  of  their  digestive  peculiarities.  Without  being  over- 
burdened with  details,  it  forms  a  complete  text-book  of  physiology,  adapted  to  the  use  of 
I  s  and  practitioners  of  both  veterinary  and  human  medicine.  This  work  has  already 
4"?cn  adopted  as  the  Text-Book  on  Phytioloyy  in  the  Veterinary  Colleges  of  the  United 
Statet,  Great  Britain,  and  Canada. 


24 


CF.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


HERE    IS    JUST    THE    BOOK    TO    PLACE    ON    THE    WAITING-ROOM    TABLE   OF    EVE' V 

PHYSICIAN,  AND  A  WORK  THAT  WILL  PROVE  USEFUL  IN 

THE  HANDS  OF  YOUR  PATIENTS. 


Heredity,  Health,   and   Personal 


Including!  the  Selection  of  the  Best  Cosmetics  for  the  Skin,  Hair, 
Nails,  and  All  Parts  Relating  to  the  Body.  By  JOHN  V.  SHOE- 
MAKER,  A.M.,    M.D.,    Professor   of   Materia   Medica,   Pharmacol 

Therapeutics,  and  Clinical  Medicine,  and  Clinical  Professor  of  Di- 
of  the  Skin  in  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College  of  Philadelphia  ;  Physi- 
cian to  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Hospital,  etc.,  etc. 

The  health  of  the  skin  and  hair,  and  how  to  promote  them,  are  dis- 
cussed;  the  treatment  of  the  nails;  the  subjects  of  ventilation,  food, 
clothing,  warmth,  bathing;  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  digestion,  ven- 
tilation ;  in  fact,  all  that  in  daily  life  conduces  to  the  well-being  of  the 
body  and  refinement  is  duly  enlarged  upon.  To  these  stores  of  popular 
information  is  added  a  list  of  the  best  medicated  soaps  and  toilet  soaps, 
and  a  whole  chapter  of  the  work  is  devoted  to  household  remedies. 

The  work  is  largely  suggestive,  and  gives  wise  and  timely  advice  as 
to  when  a  physician  should  be  consulted. 

Complete  in  one  handsome  Royal  Octavo  volume  of  425  pages, 
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Edges,  with  side  and  back  gilt  stamps  and  Half-Morocco  Gilt  Top. 

United  States.     Canada  (duty  paid).      Great  Britain.         France. 

Price  in  Cloth,  rost-paid,  $2.50  Net  $2.75  Net  14s.  15  fr. 

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ONE  OF  THE  MOST  TIMELY  AND  USEFUL   SMALL  VOLUMES 
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The  Daughter, 


Her  Health,  Education,  and  Wedlock.  Homely  Suggestions  to 
Mothers  and  Daughters.  By  WILLIAM  M.  CAPP,  M.D.,  Philadelphia. 
It  is  just  such  a  book  as  a  family  ph}'sician  would  advise  his  lady  patients 
to  obtain  and  read.  It  answers  man}r  questions  which  every  busy  prac- 
titioner of  medicine  has  put  to  him  in  the  sick-room  at  a  time  when  it  is 
neither  expedient  nor  wise  to  impart  the  information  sought. 

It  will  not  mar  the  most  proper  womanly  modesty  or  refined  feelings, 
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in  emergencies. 

It  is  complete  in  one  beautifully  printed  (large,  clear  type)  12mo 
volume  of  150  pages.     Attractively  bound  in  Extra  Cloth. 

Price,  post-paid,  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  $1.00  Net;  Great  Britain, 
5s.  6d. ;  France,  6  fr.  20. 


International  Pocket  Medical  Fopimilanj, 

ARRANGED   THERAPEUTICALLY. 

By  G.  SUMNER  WlTHERSTlNE,   M.S.,   M.D., 

Associate  Editor  of  the  "Annual  of  the  Universal  Medical  Sciences  ;"   Visiting  Physician  of  the  Home  for 
the  Aged,  Germantown,  Philadelphia;  Late  House-Surgeon  Charity  Hospital,  New  York. 

More  than  1800  Formulce  from  Several  Hundred   Weil-Known  Authorities. 

With  an  Arrnsmx  containing  a  Posological  Table,  the  newer  remedies  included  ;  Important  Incompati- 
ble :  Tables  on  Dentition  and  the  Pulse  ;  Table  of  Drops  in  a  Fluidrachm  and  Doses  of  Laudanum  graduated 
Formulae  and  Doses  of  Hypodermic  Medication,  including  the  newer  remedies;  Uses  of  the  Hypo- 
dermic Syringe;  Formula  and  Doses  for  Inhalations,  Nasal  Douches,  Gargles,  and  Eye-washes  ;  Formula; 
for  Suppositories;  Use  of  the  Thermometer  in  Disease;  Poisons,  Antidotes,  and  Treatment ;  Directions  for 
Post-Mortem  and  Medico-Legal  Examinations;  Treatment  of  Asphyxia,  Sun-stroke,  etc.;  Anti-emetic 
Remedies  and  Disinfectants:  Obstetrical  Table;  Directions  for  Ligation  of  Arteries  ;  Urinary  Analysis; 
Table  of  Eruptive  Fevers  ;  Motor  Points  for  Electrical  Treatment,  etc.,  etc. 


This  work,  the  best  and  most  complete  of  its  kind,  contains  about  275  printed  pages,  besides 
extra  blank  leaves.  Elegantly  printed,  with  red  lines,  edges,  and  borders;  with  illustrations.  Bound 
in  leather,  with  side  flap.  It  contains  more  than  1800  Formulae,  exclusive  of  the  large  amount  of 
other  very  valuable  matter. 

Price,  Post-paid,  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  $2.00,  net ; 
Great  Britain,  8s.  6d. ;  France,  12  fr.  40. 

TPhl  /?£"J  C77/1/Q  WHY  EVERY  MEDICAL  MAN  SHOULD  POSSESS  A  COPY  OF 
I  CIV  nCHOUIVO       THE  INTERNATIONAL  POCKET  MEDICAL  FORMULARY. 

1.  Because  it  is  a  handy  book  of  reference,  replete  with  the  choicest  formula;  (over  1800  in  number)  of 
more  than  six  hundred  of  the  most  prominent  classical  writers  and  modern  practitioners. 

2.  Because  the  remedies  given  are  not  only  those  whose  efficiency  has  stood  the  test  of  time,  but  also  the 

newest  and  latest  discoveries  in  pharmacy  and  medical  science,  as  prescribed  and  used  by  the  best- 
known  American  and  foreign  modern  authorities. 

3.  Because  it  contains  the  latest,  largest  (66  formula;)  and  most  complete  collection  of  hypodermic  formula? 

(including  the  latest  new  remedies!  ever  published,  with  doses  and  directions  for  their  use  in  over 
fifty  different  diseases  and  diseased  conditions. 

4.  Because  its  appendix  is  brimful  of  information,  invaluable  in  office  work,  emergency  cases,  and  the 

daily  routine  of  practice. 

6.  Because  it  is  a  reliable  friend  to  consult  when,  in  a  perplexing  or  obstinate  case,  the  usual  line  of  treat- 
ment is  of  no  avail.  (A  hint  or  a  help  from  the  best  authorities,  as  to  choice  of  remedies,  correct 
dosage,  and  the  eligible,  elegant,  and  most  palatable  mode  of  exhibition  of  the  same.) 

6.  Because  it  is  compact,  elegantly  printed  and  bound,  well  illustrated,  and  of  convenient  size  and  shape 

for  the  pocket. 

7.  Because  the  alphabetical  arrangement  of  the  diseases  and  a  thumb-letter  index  render  reference  rapid 

and  easy. 

8.  Because  blank  leaves,  judiciously  distributed  throughout  the  book,  afford  a  place  to  record  and  index 

favorite  formula;. 

9.  Because,  as  a  student,  he  needs  it  for  study,  collateral  reading,  and  for  recording  the  favorite  prescriptions 

of  his  professors,  in  lecture  and  clinic ;  as  a  recent  graduate,  he  needs  it  as  a  reference  hand-book  for 
daily  use  in  prescribing  (gargles,  nasal  douches,  inhalations,  eye-washes,  suppositories,  incompatibles, 
poisons,  etc.)  ;  as  an  old  practitioner,  he  needs  it  to  refresh  his  memory  on  old  remedies  and  combi- 
nations,and  for  information  concerning  newer  remedies  and  more  modern  approved  plans  of  treatment. 

10.  Because  no  live,  progressive  medical  man  can  afford  to  be  without  it. 


It  is  sometimes  important  that  such  pressriptions  as 
have  been  .veil  established  in  their  usefulness  be  preserved 
for  reference,  and  this  little  volume  serves  snob  a  purpose 
better  than  any  other  we  have  seen.— Columl nu  Medical 

Without  doubt  this  book  is  the  best  one  of  its  class 

that  we  have  ever  seen The  printing,  binding. 

tnd  genera]  appearance  of  the  volume  are  beyond  praise.— 
University  Medical  Wagazint . 

It  may  be  possible  to  get  more  crystallized  knowledge 
in  an  equally  small  space,  but  it  does  not  seem  probable.— 
Medical  Cla 

A  v.-rv  handv  and  valuable  bo.>k  of  formulae  for  the 
.n's  pocket.— Si.  Louis  Vedical  and  Sura.  Journal. 

This  little  pocket-hook  contains  an  immense  number 
of  prescriptions  taken  from  high  authorities  in  this  and 
other  countries— .V'"-"'"".  iti  rn  Zanci '. 

This  one  is  the  most  complete  as  well  as  the  most 
conveniently  arranged  of  any  thnt  have  come  under  our 
attention.  The  diseases  are'  enumerated  in  alphabetical 
ord»r.  and  for  each  the  latest  and  most  approved  remedies 
(ram  the  ablest  authorities  are  prescribed.  The  book  is  in- 
dexed entirely  through  after  the  order  of  the  first  paces  of 
a  ledger,  the  ind  u  letter  being  printed  on  morocco  leather 
and  th-  durable      Pacific  Medical  Journal. 

iok  desirable  for  the  old  practitioner  and  for 
his  younger  brothers  as  well.— .S(.  Joseph  Medical  Herald. 


As  long  as  "  combinations  "  are  sought  such  a  bonk 
will  be  of  value,  especially  to  those  who  cannot  spare  the 
time  required  to  learn  enough  of  incompatibilities  iieh.n 
commencing  practice  to  avoid  writing  incompatible  and 
dangerous  prescriptions.  The  constant  use  of  such  a  hook 
by  such  prescribes  would  save  the  pharmacist  much 
anxiety.—  Tin-  Druggists'  Circular. 

In  judicious  selection,  in  accurate  nomenclature.  <n 

arrangement,  and  in  stvle  it  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired. 

litor  and  the  publisher  are  to  be  congratulated  on  the 

production  of  the  very  best  book  of  its  class. — Pittsburgh 

Medical  St  oit  u  . 

One  must  see  it  to  realize  how  much  information  can 
be  got  into  a  work  of  so  little  bulk. — Canada  Medical 
Record. 

To  the  young  physician  just  starting  out  in  practice 
this  little  book  will  prove  an  acceptable  companion.— 
Omaha  Clinic.  _.  . 

The  want  of  to-dav  is  crystallized  knowledge.     I  Ins 

neat  little  volume  contains  in  it  the  most  accessible  form. 

It  is  bound  in  morocco  in   pocket  form,  with   alphabetical 

,, .  of  diseases,  so  that  it  is  possible  to  turn  instantly 

to  the  r.inedv.  whatever  may  be  the  disorder  or  wherever 

the  patient  may  be  situated To  the  physician 

it  is  invaluable,  and  others  should  not  he  without  it.  We 
heartily  commend  the  work  to  our  readers.— Minnesota 
Medical  Journal. 


Jo 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.; 


JXJST    ISSUED. = 

PHYSICIANS'    AND    STUDENTS'    READY-REFERENCE    SERIES. 

ZL-To.  3. 

Synopsis  of  Human  Anatomy: 

Being   a   Complete    Compend  of  Anatomy,  including   the 
Anatomy  of  the  Viscera,  and  Numerous  Tables. 


JAMES   K.  YOUNG,  M.D., 

Instructor  in  Orthopaedic  Surgery  and  Assistant   Demonstrator  of  Surgery,  University  of  Pennsylvania; 
Attending  Orthopaedic  Surgeon,  Out-Patient  Department,  University  Hospital,  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH  76  WOOD-ENGRAVINGS.     390  PAGES. 

12mo.     HANDSOMELY  BOUND    IN   DARK-BLUE   CLOTH. 

Price,  Post-paid,  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  $1.40,  net; 
Great  Britain,  6s.  6d.  ;  France,  9  fr.  25. 


While  the  author  has  prepared  this  work  especially  for  students,  sufficient  de- 
scriptive matter  has  been  added  to  render  it  extremely  valuable  to  the  busy  practitioner, 
particularly  the  sections  on  the  Viscera,  Special  Senses, 
and  Surgical  Anatomy. 

The  work  includes  a  complete  account  of  Osteology, 
Articulations  and  Ligaments,  Muscles,  Fascias,  Vascular 
and  Nervous  Systems,  Alimentary,  Vocal,  and  Respiratory 
and  Genito-Urinary  Apparatuses,  the  Organs  of  Special 
Sense,  and  Surgical  Anatomy. 

In  addition  to  a  most  carefully  and  accurately  prepared 
text,  wherever  possible,  the  value  of  the  work  has  been 
enhanced  by  tables  to  facilitate  and  minimize  the  labor  of 
students  in  acquiring  a  thorough  knowledge  of  this  impor- 
tant subject.  The  section  on  the  teeth  has  also  been 
especially  prepared  to  meet  the  requirements  of  students 
of  Dentistry. 

In  its  preparation,  Gray's  Anatomy  [last  edition], 
edited  by  Keen,  being  the  anatomical  work  most  used,  has 
been  taken  as  the  standard. 


Anatomy  is  a  theme  that  allows  such  concen- 
tration better  than  most  medical  subjects,  and,  as 
the  accuracy  of  this  little  book  is  beyond  question, 
its  value  is  assured.  As  a  companion  to  the  dis- 
secting-table,  and  a  convenient  reference  for  the 
practitioner,  it  has  a  definite  field  of  usefulness. — 
Pittsburgh  Medical  Review. 

This  is  a  very  carefully  prepared  compend  of 
a..atomy,  and  will  be  usefui  to  students  for  college 
or  hospital  examination.  There  are  some  excellent 
tables  in  the  work,  particularly  the  one  showing  the 
origin,  course,  distribution,  and  functions  of  the 
cranial  nerves. — Medical  Record. 

Dr.  Young  has  compiled  a  very  useful  book. 
We  are  not  inclined  to  approve  of  compends  as  a 
general  rule,  but  it  certainly  serves  a  good  purpose 
to  have  the  subject  of  anatomy  presented  in  a  com- 
pact, reliable  way,  and  in  a  boot-  easily  carried  to 
the  dissecting-room.  This  the  author  has  done. 
The  book  is  well  printed,  and  tne  illustrations  well 
selected.  1  f  a  student  can  indulge  in  more  than  one 
work  on  anatomy, — for,  of  course,  he  must  have  a 
general  treatise  on  the  subject, — he  can  hardly  do 
better  than  to  purchase  this  compend  It  will  save 
the  larger  work,  and  can  always  be  with  him  during 
the  hours  of  dissection. — Buffalo  Medical  and 
Surgical  Journal. 


Excellent  tables  have  been  arranged,  which 
tersely  and  clearly  present  important  anatomical 
facts,  and  the  book  will  be  found  very  convenient 
for  ready  reference.— Columbus  Medical  Journal. 

The  book  is  much  more  satisfactory  than  the 
"remembrances"  in  vogue,  and  yet  is  not  too  cum- 
bersome to  be  carried  around  and  read  at  odd 
moments — a  property  which  the  student  will  readily 
appreciate.—  Weekly  Medical  Review. 

If  a  synopsis  of  human  anatomy  may  serve  a 
purpose,  and  we  believe  it  does,  it  is  very  important 
that  the  synopsis  should  be  a  good  one.  in  this 
respect  the  above  work  may  be  recommended  as  a 
reliable  guide.  Dr.  Young  has  shown  excellent 
judgment  in  his  selection  of  illustrations,  in  the 
numerous  tables,  and  in  the  classification  of  the 
various  subjects — Therapeutic  Gazette. 

Every  unnecessary  word  has  been  excluded,  out 
of  regard  to  the  very  limited  time  at  the  medical 
student's  disposal.  Tt  is  also  good  as  a  reference 
book,  as  it  presents  the  facts  about  which  he  wishes 
to  refresh  his  memory  in  the  briefest  manner 
consistent  with  clearness. — New  York  Medical 
Journal. 

It  is  certainly  concise  and  accurate,  and  should 
be  in  the  hands  of  every  student  and  practitioner.— 
The  Medical  Brief. 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


27 


— ===ANNUAL=^ — 

OF    THE 

Universal  Medical  Sc^ences- 

A     YEARLY   REPORT    OF    THE   PROGRESS    OF    THE    GENERAL    SANITARY 
SCIENCES  THROUGHOUT  THE  WORLD. 

Edited   by    CHARLES   E.    SAJOUS,    M.D., 

LECTURER    ON    LARYNGOLOGY  AND   RHINOLOGY    IN    JEFFEKSON    MEDICAL   COLLEGE,  PHILADELPHIA,  ETC., 

AXIl 

SEVENTY    ASSOCIATE    EDITORS, 

Assisted  by  over  TWO  HUNDRED  Corresponding  Editors  and  Collaborators. 

In  Five  Royal  Octavo   I'  about  500 images  each,  bound  in  Cloth  and  Half-Russia, 

Magnificently  Illustrated  with  Chromo-IAthographs,  Engravings, 

Maps,  Charts,  anil  Diagrams. 

BEmG    INTENDED 

1st.  the  busy  practitioner  in  his  efforts  to  keep  abreast  of  the  rapid  sti 

of  all  the  branches  of  his  profession. 

'  ■  avoid  for  him  the  loss  of  time  involved  in  searching  for  that  which  is  new  in 
the  profuse  and  constantly  increasing  medical  literature  of  our  day. 

Sd.  To  enable  him  to  obtain  the  greatest  possible  benefit  of  the  limited  time  he  is 
able  to  devote  to  reading,  by  furnishing  him  with  new  matter  ONLY. 

4th.  To  keep  him  informed  of  the  work  'lone  by  all  nations,  including  many  other- 
wise seldom  if  ever  heard  from. 

To  furnish  him  with  a  review  of  all  the  new  matter  contained  in  the  periodicals 
to  which  he  cannot  (through  their  immense  number)  subscribe. 

6th.  To  cull  for  the  specialist  all  that  is  of  a  progressive  nature  in  the  general  and 
special  publications  of  all  nations,  and  obtain  for  him  special  reports  from  countries  in 
which  such  publications  do  not  exist,  and 

Lastly,  to  enable  any  physician  to  possess,  at  a  moderate  cost,  a  complete 

CONTEMPORARY  HISTORY  OF  UNIVERSAL  MEDICINE, 

by  many  of  America's  ablest  teachers,  and  superior  in  every  detail,  of  print,  ;  a]  sr 
binding,  etc.,  etc.,  a  befitting  continuation  of  such  great  works  as  "Peppers  System  of 

ne,"  "Ashhurst's  International  Encyclopaedia  of  Surgery,"  "Buck's  Reference 
Hand-Book  of  the  Medical  Sciences,"  etc.,  etc. 


EDITORIAL  STAFF  of  the  ANNUAL  of  the  UNIVERSAL  MEDICAL  SCIENCES. 

ISSUE    OK    1888. 

Chief  Editor,  DR.  CHARLES  E.  SAJOUS,  Philadelphia 

ASSOCIATE     STAFF.  f 

Volume  I. — Obstetrics,  Gynecology,  Pediatrics,  Anatomy,  Physiology,  Pathology, 
Histology,  ami  Embryology. 


Prof.  William   G lell  and  Dr.  W.  C.  Prof.  II.  Newell  Martin  and  Dr.  W.  II. 

(. ell.  Philadelphia.  Howell,  Baltimore. 

Prof.  E.  C.  Dudley,  Chicago.  !  Dr.  Chns.  S.  Minot,  Boston. 

Prof.  W.  II.  Parish,  Philadi  Iphia.  Dr.  E.  0.  Shakespeare.  Philadelphia. 

Prof.  William  S.  Forbes,  Philadelphia.  Dr.  W.  X.  Sudduth,  Philadelphia. 


Prof.  Win.  L.  Richardson.  Boston. 
Prof.  Theo]  dim  Parvin.  I'hilada. 
Prof.  Louis  Starr,  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  J.  Lewis  Smith,  New  York  City. 
Prof.  Pa  l  I'.  Maude  and  Dr.  E.  II." 
Grand;,,.  New  Fork  City. 

Volume  II. — Diseases  of  the  Respiratory,  Circulatory,  Digestive,  and  Nervous  Systems', 

Fevers,  Exanthemata,  etc.,  etc. 

Prof.  A.  L.  Loomis,  New  York  Citv.  |  Prof.  E.  C.  S<  ruin,  New  York  Citv.  Prof.  Jas.  Tvson.  Philadelphia. 

Prof.  Jas.  T.  Whittaker,  Cincinnati.         Prof.  E.  C.  Spitzka.  New  York  Cit<\  Prof.  N.  S.  Dai  is,  Chicago. 

Prof.  W.  II.  Tl ison,  New  York  City.  |  ProfChas.K.  Mills  and  Dr.  J.  H.Llbyd,  Prof.  John  Guiteras,  Charleston,  S.  C. 

Prof.  w.  W.  Johnston,  Washington.  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Jas.  C.  Wilson.  Philadelphia. 

Prof  Jos.  Leidy,  Philadelphia.  ,  Prof.  Francis  Delafield,  N.  Y.  City. 

Volume  III. — General  Surgery,  Venereal  Diseases,  Anesthetics,  Surgical  Dressings, 

Dii  tetii  s,  etc.,  etc. 

Prof.  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  Philadelphia.      ]  Prof.  F.  R.  Sturgis,  Now  York  City.  Prof.  T.  G.  Morton  and  Dr.  Win,  Hunt, 

Prof.  Hunter  McGuire,  Richmond. 
i  ,  New  York. 
Prof.  P.  £  ncinnati.  Prof.  Christopher  Johnston,  Haiti  nore.     Dr.  I  has,  Wirgmau,  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  Chus.  IS.  Kelsey,  New  York  City.        Dr.  C.  C.  Davidson,  Philadelphia. 


.'    Ew  in.'  Hears,  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  E.  L,  K.-   ■•-,  .New  York  <  in  . 

Volume  IV. — ' '  'jihihahnology,  Otology,  Laryngology,  Uhinology,  Dermatology,  Dentistry, 
Hygiene,  Disposal  of  the  Dead,  etc.,  etc. 

Prof.  William  Thomson.  Philadelphia.  I  Prof.  C.  N.  Peirce,  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Chns.  S.  Tnrnhull.  Philadelphia. 

Prof.  j.  Solis  Colo-,,.  Philadeli  |  Prof.  John  li.  Hamilton,  Washington.       I>r.  Edw.  C.  Kirk.  Philadelphia. 

]■    i    D.Bi     on  Delavan,  New  York.  Prof.  H.  M.  Lyman.  Chicago.  |  Dr.  John  G.  Lee.  Philadelphia. 

Prof.  A.  Van  Harlingen,  Philadelphia.  Prof.  S.  H.  Guilford,  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Chas.  E.  Sajous,  Philadelphia. 

28 


List  of  Collaborators  to  Dental  Department. 


Prof.  James  Truman,  Philadelphia.        |  Prof.  E.  II.  Anfrlo,  Minneapolis,  Minn, 


Prof.  J.  A.  Marshall,  Ch 
Prof.  A.  W.  Harlan,  Chicago,  ill. 
Prof,  G.  V.  Black,  Chioago,  111. 
Prof.  C.  II.  Stowoll,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 
Prof.  L.  C.  Ingersoll,  Keoltuk,  Iowa. 
Prof.  F.  J.  S.  Gorgas,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Prof.  II.  A.  Smith,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Prof.  C.  P.  Pengm,  Boston,  Mass. 


ipoliH.  ind. 

Prof.  K.  Stubbletield,  Nashville,  1  enn 
Prof.  W.  C.  Barrett,  Butfalo,  N.  V. 
Prof.  A.  ll.  Thompson,  Topeka,  Kan. 
Dr.  James  W.  White,  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  L.  Ashley  Faugh*,  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  Roberts.  Ivy,  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  W.  Storer  How,  Philadelphia. 


Dr.  J.  D.  Patterson,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Dr.  J.  B.  Uodgkin,  Wo  hingtoi     0  l 

Dr.  B.  It.  Aod,.;  •       I    .  ■  .  I 

Dr.  Albion  M.  Dud  em    Situs. 

Dr.  Geo.  S.  Alien,  New  Vork  fjily. 
Dr.  <;.  S.  Dean,  >:ui  C  rancl   '".  '  III 

in  ,  M    ll.  J-  letcher,  Cincinnati,  I  »hio. 
Dr.  A.  Morsman,  Omaha,  Neb. 
Dr.  G.  \V.  Melotte,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 


Volume  V. —  General  and  Experimental  Therapeutics,  Medical  (Jhcuur-lr;/,  Medical 
Jurisprudence,  Demography,  Climatology,  etc.,  etc. 

Prof.  William  Poppor,  Philadelphia.  i  Prof.  Goorgo  II.  Robe,  Baltimore.  j  Dr.  W.  P.  Man  ton,  Detroit.  Mich. 

Prof.  F.  W.  Draper,  Boston.  Dr.  Albert  L.  Gilion,  U.  S.  N.                      Dr.  Ili.lm.rt  A.  Hare,  Philade  phia. 

Prof.  J.  W.  Holland,  Philadelphia.  Dr.  K.  J.  Dungllson,  Philadelphia.  Dr.  C.  S.  Witherstine,  Pluladulphia. 

Prof.  A.  L.  Itanuey,  New  York  City.      I  I 


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EXTRACTS    FROM    REVIEWS. 

We  venture  to  say  that  all  who  saw  the  Annual  as  it  appeared  in  1888  were  on  the 
lookout  for  its  reappearance  this  (1889)  year;  but  there  are  many  whose  knov/ledge  of  this 
magnificent  undertaking  will  date  with  this  present  issue,  and  to  those  a  mere  examina- 
tion of  the  work  will  suffice  to  sho"w  that  it  fills  a  legitimate  place  in  the  evolution  of 
knowledge,  for  it  does  what  no  single  individual  is  capable  of  doing. 

These  volumes  make  readily  available  to  the  busy  practitioner  the  best  fruits  of 
medical  progress  for  the  year,  selected  by  able  editors  from  the  current  literature  of  the 
world;  such  a  work  cannot  be  overlooked  by  anyone  who  would  keep  abreast  of  the 
times.  With  so  much  that  is  worthy  of  notice  incorporated  in  one  work,  and  each  depart- 
ment written  up  with  a  minuteness  and  thoroughness  appreciated  particularly  by  the 
specialist,  it  would  avail  nothing  to  cite  particular  instances  of  progress.  Let  it  be  suffi- 
cient to  say,  however,  that  while  formerly  there  was  a  possible  excuse  for  not  having  the 
latest  information  on  matters  pertaining  to  the  medical  sciences,  there  can  no  longer  be 
such  an  excuse  while  the  Annual  is  published. — Journal  of  the  American  Medical 
Association. 

We  have  before  us  the  second  issue  of  this  Annual,  and  it  is  not  speaking  too 
strongly  when  we  say  that  the  series  of  five  volumes  of  which  it  consists  forms  a  most 
important  and  valuable  addition  to  medical  literature. 

Great  discretion  and  knowledge  of  the  subjects  treated  of  are  required  at  the  hands 
of  those  who  have  taken  charge  of  the  various  sections,  and  the  manner  in  which  the 
gentlemen  who  were  chosen  to  fill  the  important  posts  of  sub-editors  have  acquitted 
themselves  fully  justifies  the  choice  made.  We  know  of  no  branch  of  the  profession  to 
which  this  Annual  could  fail  to  be  useful.  Dr.  Sajous  deserves  the  thanks  of  the  whole 
profession  for  his  successful  attempt  to  facilitate  the  advance  of  medical  literature  and 
practice. — London  Lancet. 

This  very  valuable  yearly  report  of  the  progress  of  medicine  and  its  collateral 
sciences  throughout  the  world  is  a  work  of  very  great  magnitude  and  high  importance. 
It  is  edited  by  Dr.  C.  E.  Sajous,  assisted,  it  is  stated,  by  seventy  associate  editors,  whose 
names  are  given,  making  up  a  learned  and  most  weighty  list.  Their  joint  labors  have 
combined  to  produce  a  series  of  volumes  in  which  the  current  progress  throughout  the 
world,  in  respect  to  all  the  branches  of  medical  science,  is  very  adequately  represented. 
The  general  arrangements  of  the  book  are  ingenious  and  complete,  having  regard  to 
thoroughness  and  to  facility  of  bibliographical  reference. — British  Medical  Journal. 


The  editor  and  publishers  of  the  Annual  of  the  Universal 
Medical  Sciences  take  this  opportunity  to  thank  its  numerous  friends 
and  patrons  for  the  liberal  support  accorded  it  in  the  past,  and  to 
announce  its  publication,  as  usual,  in  1891.  Recording,  as  it  does,  the 
progress  of  the  world  in  medicine  and  surgery,  its  motto  continues  to 
be,  as  in  the  past,  u  Improvement,"  and  its  friends  may  rest  assured  that 
no  effort  will  be  spared,  not  only  to  maintain,  but  to  surpass,  the  high 
standard  of  excellence  already  attained. 

The  Subscription  Price  will  be  the  same  as  last  year's  issue  and 
the  issues  of  1889  and  1888. 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


ISSUE   OF   18S9 


The  Annual  of  the  Universal  Medical  Sciences. 

In  Five   Royal  Octavo  Volumes  <>r  over  500  i>aic<>N  each,  bound  in  Cloth  and 

Half-Kussla,  Magnificently  Illustrated  with   Chroino-Lilthographa, 

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This  work  is  bound  in  above  Styles  only,  and  sold  by  subscription. 

Published  in  Connection  with  the  Annual  and  for  Subscribers  Only. 

THE    SATELLITE 


AKNVAI,    OK    THE    I'MVERSAI,    MEDICAL    SCIENCES. 

A  M  inthly  Review  of  the  most  important  articles  upon  the  practical  branches  of  medicine  appearing  in 
the  medical  press  at  large,  edited  by  ihe  CI  iei  Editor  ol  the  Annual  and  an  able  staff. 

Editorial  Staff  of  the  Annual  of  the  Universal  Medical  Sciences,  issue  of  1889. 

Chief  Editor,  Dr.  CHAS.  E.  SAJOUS,  Philadelphia. 

ASSOCIATE    STAFF. 

Volume  I.— Diseases  of  tli  -   I.  if  the  Eeart,  Diseases  of   the  Gastro- 

11'  -  D       sea  of  the  Intestines,  Intestinal    Entozoa,    Diseases  of 

the  Kidneys  and    B  Fevers,    Fevers  in   Children,  Diphtheria,  Rheu- 

matism and  Gout,  Diabetes,  Volume  Ind 

Dr.  Jas.  C.  Wilson,  Philadelphia. 


Prof.  Louis  Starr,  Philadelphia 
Prof.  J.  lewis  Smith,  New  York. 
Prof.  N.  S.  Davis,  Chicago. 
Prof.  Jas.  Tyson,  Philadelphia. 


Prof.  Jas.  T.  Whit  taker,  Cincinnati. 
Prof.  A.  L.   1  OOmiS,  Now  York  City. 
Prof.  E.  T    Bruen,  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  W.  W.  Johnston,  Washington. 
I  >r.  L.  Emmett  Holt,  New  York. 
Prof.  Jos.  Leidy,  Philadelphia. 

Volume  II. — Diseases  of  the  Brain  and  Cord,   Peripheral   Nervous   System,   Mental 
Diseases,  Inebriety,  Diseases  of  the  Uterus,  Diseases  of  the  Ovaries,  Diseases 
of  the  External  Genitals  in  Women,  Diseases  of  Pregnancy,  Obstetrics,  Dis- 
-  of  the  Newborn,  Dietetics  of  Infancy,  Growth,  volume  Index. 


Prof  W.  H.  Parish.  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  Theophilus  Parvin,  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  Win.  I.,  kichardson.  Boston. 
Dr.  A.  F.  Currier,  New  York. 

Prof.  I  otiis  Starr,  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  Chas.  S.  Minot,  Boston. 


Prof.  E.  C.  Seguin,  New  York  City. 

Prof.  Henrv  Hun.  Albany. 

Dr.  E.  N.  brush,  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  W.  R.  Birdsall,  New  York. 

Prof.  Paul  ]•'.  Munde,  New  York  City. 

Prof.  \Vm.  Goodell.  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  W.  C.  Goodell,  Philadelphia. 

Volume  III. — Surgery  of  Brain,  Surgery  of  Abdomen,  Genito-Urinary  Surgery,  Dis- 
eases of  Rectum  and  Anus,  Amputation  and  Resection  and  Plastic  Surgery, 
Surgical  Diseases  of  Circulation,  Fracture  and  Dislocation,  Military  Surgery, 
Tumors,  Orthopaedic  Surgery,  Oral  Surgery,  Surgical  Tuberculosis,  etc  Sur 
gical  Diseases,  Results  of  Railway  Injuries,  Anaesthetics,  Surgical  Dressings, 
Volume  Index. 


Prof.  N.  Senn,  Milwaukee. 
Prof.  E.  L.  Keyes,  New  York  City. 
Pi  if.  J.  Ewing  Meats,  Philadelphia. 
I  )r  Chas,  B.  Kelsey,  New  York  City. 
Prof   P.  S.  Conner,  Cincinnati. 
Dr.  John  H.  Packard,  Philadelphia. 

;    Lewis  A.  Stimson,  New  York  City. 
Dr.  J.  M.  Barton,  Philadelphia. 

Volume  IV. — Skin  Diseases,  Ophthalmology,  Otology,  Rhinology,  Diseases  of  Pharynx, 
etc.,  Intubation,  Diseases  of  Larynx  and  Oesophagus,  Diseases  of  Thyroid 
Gland,  Legal  Medicine,  Examination  for  Insurance,  Diseases  of  the  Blood, 
Urinalysis,  Volume  Index. 


Prof.  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  Morris  Longstreth,  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  Thos.  G.  Morton,  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  J.  1".   Garretson,  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  J.  W.  White,  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  C.  Johnston,  Baltimore. 
Prof.  E.  C.  Seguin,  New  York  City. 


Prof.  A.  Yan  Harlingen,  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  Chas    A.  Oliver  and  Dr.  Geo.  M. 

Gould,  Philadelphia. 
Dr   Charles  S.  Turnbull,  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  J.  Solis  Cohen,  Philadelphia. 

John  GuiteVas,  Charleston,  S.  C. 


Dr.  Chas.  E.  Sajous,  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  D.  Bryson  Delavan,  New  York. 
Prof  R,  Fletcher  lngals,  Chicago. 
Prof.  F.  W.  Draper.  Boston 
Prof.  Jas.  Tyson,  Philadelphia. 


Volume  V. — General  Therapeutics,  Experimental  Therapeutics,  Poisons,  Electric 
Therapeutics,  Climatology,  Dermography,  Technology,  Bacteriology,  Embry- 
ology. Physiology,  Anatomy,  General  Index. 

Dr.  C.  Sumner  Withers!  ine,  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  J.  W.  Holland,  Philadelphia. 


Dr.  J.  P.  Crozer  Griffith,  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  Hobart  A.  Hare,  Philadelphia. 
Prof  Geo.  H.  Rohe,  Baltimore. 
Prof.  John  B   Hamilton.  Washington. 
Dr.  Harold  C.  Ernst,  Boston. 
Prof.  H.  Newell  Martin,  Baltimore. 
Dr.  R.  J.  Dunglison,  Philadelphia. 


Prof.  A.  L.  Ranney,  New  Yorl 
Dr.  Albert  H.  Gihon,  U.  S.  N. 
Dr.  W.  P.  Manton,  Detroit. 
Dr.  W.  X.  Sudduth,  Philadelphia. 
Prof.  Wm.  T.  Forbes,  Philadelphia. 


80 


(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


THE  LATEST  BOOK  OF  REFERENCE  ON  NERVOUS  DISEASES. 

Lectures  on  Nervous  Diseases, 

FROM  THE  STAND-POINT  OF  CERERRAL  AND  SPINAL  LOCALIZATION,  AND 

THE  LATER  METHODS  EMPLOYED  IN  THE  DIAGNOSIS  AND 

TREATMENT  OF  THESE  AFFECTIONS. 

By   AMBROSE    L.    RANNEY,  A.M.,   M.D., 

Pri.'essor  of  the  Anatomy  and  Physiology  of  the  Nervous  System  in  the  New  York  Post-Graduate  Medical 

School  and  Hospital  ;  Professor  of  Nervous  and  Mental  Diseases  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the 

University  of  Vermont,  etc   ;  Author  of  "The  Applied  Anatomy  of  the  Nervous  system," 

"  Practical  Medical  Anatomy,"  etc.,  etc. 


PEOFTTSELT     ILIVSTU^lTED 

With  Original  Diagrams  and  Sketches  in  Color  by  the  Author,  carefully  selected  Wood. 

Engravings,  and  Reproduced  Photographs  of  Typical  Cases. 

ONE    HANDSOME    ROYAL   OCTAVO    VOLUME   OF    780    PAGES. 

United  States.  Canada  (duty  paid).  Great  Britain.  France. 

CLOTH,  ...  S5.50  866.05 

SHEEP,       ...  6.50  7.15 

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solid  oiTL-sr  B"sr  st:bsobiption. 


32s. 

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37s.  6d. 

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40s. 

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It  is  now  generally  conceded  that  the  nervous  system  controls  all  of  the  physical 
functions  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  and  also  that  most  of  the  symptoms  encountered  at 
the  bedside  can  be  explained  and  interpreted  from  the  stand-point  of  nervous  physiology. 

The  unprecedented  sale  of  this  work  during  the  short  period  whi'l:  has  elapsed  since 
its  publication  has  already  compelled  the  publishers  to  print  a  second  edition,  which  is 
already  nea.rly  exhausted. 


We  are  glad  to  note  that  Dr.  Ranney  has  pub- 
lished in  z  ;ok  form  his  admirable  lectures  on  nervous 
diseases.  His  book  contains  over  seven  hundred 
large  pages,  and  is  profusely  illustrated  with  origi- 
nal diagrams  and  sketches  in  colors,  and  with  many 
carefully  selected  wood-cuts  and  reproduced  photo- 
graphs of  typical  cases.  A  large  amount  of  valua- 
ble information,  not  a  little  of  which  has  but  recently 


appeared  in  medical  literature,  is  presented  in  com- 
pact form,  and  thus  made  easily  accessible.  In  our 
opinion,  Dr.  Ranney's  book  ought  to  meet  with  a 
cordial  reception  at  the  hands  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession, for,  even  though  the  author's  views  may  be 
sometimes  open  to  question,  it  cannot  be  disputed 
that  his  work  bears  evidence  of  scientific  method  and 
honest  opinion. — American  Journal  of  Insanity. 


LECTURES 

ON  THE 

Diseases  of  the  Nose  and  Throat. 

DELIVERED  AT  THE  JEFFERSON  MEDICAL  COLLEGE,  PHILADELPHIA, 

By   CHARLES    E.  SAcJOUS,   M.D., 

Lecturer  on  Rhinology  and  Laryngology  in  Jefferson  Medical  College;  Vice-President  of  the  American  Laryngologieal 

Association;  Officer  of  the  Academy  of  France  and  of  Public  Instruction  of  Venezuela;  Corresponding  Member 

of  the  Koyal  Society  of  Belgium,  of  the  Medical  Society  of  Warsaw  (Poland),  and  of  the  Society  of 

Hygiene  of  France  ;  Member  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  etc.,  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH  100  CHKOMO -LITHOGRAPHS,  FROM  OIL  PArNTLNGS  B"S 
THE  AUTHOR,  AND  93  ENGRAVINGS  ON  WOOD. 

ONE  HANDSOME  KOYAL  OCTAVO  VOLUME.  SOLD  ONLY  BY  SUBSCKLTTION. 

United  States.        Canada  (duty  paid).      Great  Britain.  F-ance. 

Cloth,  Royal  Octavo,      -  $4.00  S4.40  22s.  6d.  24  fr.  60 

Half-Russia,  Royal  Octavo,      -  5.00  S.50  28s.  30  fr.  30 


(H3P  Since  the  publisher  brought  this  valuable  work  before  the  prof ession,  it  has  become; 
1st,  the  text-book  of  a  large  number  of  colleges;  2d,  the  reference-book  of  the  U.  S.  Arm'/, 
Navy,  and  the  Marine  Service;  and,  Sd,  an  important  and  valued  addition  to  the  libraries 
of  over  7000  physicians. 

This  book  has  not  only  the  inherent  merit  of  presenting  a  clear  expose  of  the  subject, 
but  it  is  written  with  a  view  to  enable  the  general  practitioner  to  treat  his  cases  himself. 
To  facilitate  diagnosis,  colored  plates  are  introduced,  showing  the  appearance  of  the  differ- 
ent parts  in  the  diseased  state  as  they  appear  in  nature  by  artificial  light.  No  error  can 
thus  be  made,  as  each  affection  of  the  nose  and  throat  has  its  representative  in  the  100 
chromo-lithographs  presented.  In  the  matter  of  treatment,  the  indications  are  so  complete 
that  even  the  slightest  procedures,  folding  of  cotton  for  the  forceps,  the  use  of  the  probe, 
etc.,  are  clearly  explained. 

It  is  intended  to  furnish  the  general  practitioner   II  they  would  appear  to  him   were  they  seen  in  the 

not  only  with  p  guide  for  the  treatment  of  diseases  of  living  subject.     As  a  guide  to  the  treatment  of  the 

the  nose  and  throat,  but  also  to  place  before  him  a   ]l  nose  and  throat,  we  can  cordially  recommend  this 

representation  of  the  normal  and  diseased  parts  as    ||  work. — Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 

(F.  A.  DAVIS,  Medical  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A.) 


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OINTMENTS     AND    OLEATES, 

ESPECIALLY  IN  DISEASES  OF  THE  SKIN. 

By  JOHN  V.  SHOEMAKER,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica,  Pharmacology,  Therapeutics,  and  Clinical  Medicine,  and  Clinical 
Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Skin  in  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College  of 
Philadelphia,  etc.,  etc. 

No.  6  in  the  Physicians'  and  Students'  Ready-Reference  Series. 
Second  Edition,  revised  and  enlarged.  298  pages.  12mo.  Neatly 
bound  in  Dark-blue  Cloth. 

Price  in  United  States  and  Canada,  post-paid,  $1.50  Net; 
Great  Britain,  8s.  6d. ;  France,  9  fr,  35. 

The  author  concisely  concludes  his  preface  as  follows  :  "  The  reader 
may  thus  obtain  a  conspectus  of  the  whole  subject  of  inunction  as  it 
exists  to-day  in  the  civilized  world.  In  all  cases  the  mode  of  preparation 
is  given,  and  the  therapeutical  application  described  seriatim,  in  so  far 
as  may  be  done  without  needless  repetition." 

It  is  invaluable  as  a  ready  reference  when  ointments  or  oleates  are  to  be  used,  and  is  serviceable  to  both 
druggist  and  physician. — Canada  Medical  Record. 

To  the  physician  who  feels  uncertain  as  to  the  best  form  in  which  to  prescribe  medicines  by  way  of  the 
skin  the  book  will  prove  valuable  owing  to  the  many  prescriptions  and  formula;  which  dot  its  pages,  while 
the  copious  index  at  the  back  materially  aids  in  making  the  book  a  useful  one. — Medical  Newt, 


DATE  DUE 

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3    OCT  0 

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Sif^s 

06MCO  38-296 

